Wrong Man
by cbeth88
Summary: Betrayed by a member of their own crew, Jack and Will are kidnapped and tortured for information they don't have... rating will go up later
1. Hard Day's Night

**_These are revised versions of the same chapters, with (hopefully) the formatting fixed._**

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**_Author's Note:_**_ This isn't my first fanfiction, but it is my first one based on, not only Pirates of the __Caribbean__ but movies in general. I definitely want any reviews you can give me, just...please be nice!  
  
I know this is short, but there is definitely more coming soon (as long as I don't get attacked by writers' block again!), that is if anyone actually wants more, so please let me know!_

**CHAPTER 1 – Hard Day's Night**

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The Black Pearl swayed gently in the harbor with the rise and fall of the sea, lulling it's two lonely occupants into a deep sleep. They had pulled into Tortuga at some ungodly hour with Jack slumped over his wheel, half asleep. For two straight days, Jack had been forced to stay awake to fulfill his duties as captain. One problem seemed to follow another: A storm hits, fights break out among the crew, a naval ship chases them getting far too close for comfort. Every time Jack got a chance to stagger over toward his cabin, something else demanded his attention. Night turned into day and back again without Jack so much as catching a glimpse of his pillow.  
  
When he finally docked in Tortuga in the middle of the night, he was more than happy to let his crew go gallivanting about the town while he collapsed in his bed. There would still be plenty of rum and women to be had when he woke up. Only Will remained on the ship with him, not being overly fond of rum and stubbornly refusing to glance at a woman who was not Elizabeth.  
  
So it was that our good pirate captain was alone and defenseless on this particular night. He slept the sleep of the dead, never moving, barely breathing, completely oblivious to the loud snores coming from Will's general direction; even more unaware of the creaking of footsteps on rotting wood or the slow squeak of the door being inched open. The only thing that could phase this sleeping beauty was the feel of cold steel against his throat.


	2. Captured

**_Author's Note: _**_Thanks for the reviews! I went back and fixed the typos (hope I got all of them!). The rotting wood thing...Well, I COULD say that, while Barbossa was captain, he let the ship go a little. But, to be perfectly honest, I was just on an imagery role and didn't really think about it too much. Whoops. You're right, Jack would NEVER allow rotting wood on his precious ship!  
  
Not too much happens yet in this chapter. I haven't written fiction in a while, so I'm taking it slow, trying to keep the quality of the writing up. If people are still interested, I'll keep posting new chapters and the plot should thicken. Again, thanks for the reviews!_

**CHAPTER 2 – CAPTURED**

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        Jack jerked awake as the blade pressed against his flesh, not yet drawing blood but coming dangerously close. His eyes followed the tip of the sword to the hand on the hilt and up the arm to the man's face.  
  
Even after all he'd seen in his lifetime, Jack felt a sickening jolt in his stomach at the sight. The hideous face was barely recognizable as being human. The right side had been badly burnt, leaving a mass of melted flesh. What skin hadn't been scorched was covered in pockmarks. A good chunk of his nose was missing, along with half of his left ear. The right ear had been completely severed, or more likely, Jack thought, melted off. The man wore a very cliché eye patch where the left eye should've been. A long scar stretching from the top and bottom of the patch told how that eye had been lost. When he smiled down at him, Jack saw that what teeth were still there had been reduced to yellow lumps of grime.  
  
"Captain Sparrow, I presume?" The man croaked.  
  
Jack nodded ever so slightly, not daring to push that blade into his neck any further.  
  
"You and your little friend are gonna have to come with us."  
  
Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw another stranger tying Will's hands behind his back while a third held a cocked pistol to his head. Jack looked back at the one-eyed man and attempted a smile. "Whatever you say, mate."  
  
The man chortled. "That's right, Jackie, you and me are gonna become real good mates." The one with the rope came over and lashed Jack's wrists together tightly so he could feel the rough splinters dig into his skin, then grabbed his sword and pistol, along with Will's, and went out onto the deck. Will was led out after him with the pistol pressing into his neck. Finally, the cold blade was drawn back and Jack was yanked to his feet and kicked violently out the open cabin door.  
  
Unable to break his fall, he landed hard on his shoulder and felt streaks of pain shoot through it. "On your feet, you lazy git!" The man with the sword hoisted his unceremoniously back to his feet and shoved him across the Pearl's deck.

        In the moonlight, Jack could see Will being led across a plank onto another ship. He couldn't make out the name, but it was roughly the same size as his ship, though he doubted it could match the Pearl in speed. He could see the mystery ship's crew watching the scene from their deck, and Jack wondered why anyone would send just three men onto an enemy ship. They must've just gotten lucky, he reckoned. They couldn't have known we'd be alone.  
  
Jack and his captor followed Will across the plank and the crew, seeing the infamous captain in bonds, let out a raucous cheer. Fully expecting to be led to this ship's captain, Jack was taken aback when he and Will were shoved into a little hole of a dungeon below deck that stank of brackish water and the remains of previous prisoners.  
  
Will picked himself up off the ground and rested his back against the filthy cell wall. He looked at Jack and spoke for the first time all night.  
  
"Do you have any idea what just happened?"


	3. New Quarters

**CHAPTER 3 – NEW QUARTERS**

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Jack winced as he pushed himself up with his injured arm. "No bloody idea." He sighed and positioned himself against the wall opposite Will. The filthy little cell was so small that Jack's long legs remained slightly bent when he tried to stretch out.

Will hugged his knees tightly to his chest, fighting off the cold damp infiltrating their little hole. Jack massaged his aching shoulder. "Never see this ship in me life, mate."

"You must've! They certainly seemed to know you!"

"Everyone knows me, Will! I'm Captain Jack Sparrow!"

"Yeah, Jack, I kinda knew that already." He jumped up and tried to pace the cell, but covered its length in less that two strides. He plopped down again, frustrated. "There has to be a reason they wanted us."

Well, I expect we'll find out soon enough. Besides, dear William, I doubt anyone was looking for you."

Will looked slightly hurt. "Why not? I'm dangerous!"

"Oh, yes, the whole Caribbean is out chasing after the rogue blacksmith from Port Royal." Will stared at the ground but didn't argue. Jack was right. They were more than likely after him, and Will would once again be reduced to leverage.  
  
There was no way to keep track of time in the windowless prison. They were only fed three times, so Jack guessed that meant three days on the ship. Each meal was the same: a crust of stale bread and chunk of rancid meat each, along with a flask of rum to be shared. Not being quite the drinker Jack is, Will wasn't pleased by the choice of beverage. "I don't see why they can't just give us water."

"Be thankful. Water won't take your mind off your stomach, boy. If you want water so bad, why not try some of that." He gestured at the inch or so of standing water they had been sitting in. Will watched a dead rat float past his feet. As Jack was raising the flask to his lips again, Will snatched it away and finished it himself.  
  
A few hours went by after the third meal. They passed them mostly in silence, each pondering their situation – how they had ended up here and what the future held. In the quiet they could hear the slow, monotonous rhythm of the water droplets falling from the ceiling. Every so often, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the deck, making the prison walls vibrate. Muffled orders penetrated the gloomy silence. Both men always strained to make out the words, hoping to hear something regarding themselves, but nothing could be deciphered.

Suddenly the cell door was thrown open and the scar-faced man entered, followed closely by another. Both carried bonds. As he locked Jack's wrists behind his back once again, he whispered, "Having fun yet, matey?" He cackled in Jack's ear then spoke to his friend. Don't forget the eyes, now." Jack saw a look of fear pass over Will's eyes before they were covered with a filthy rag. A second later, Jack's own vision was obscured.

The captors didn't take any precautions when they "led" their prisoners up to the deck. Both men lost their footing every few steps and were dragged along until they could regain it. On the deck, they could feel the fresh air blow through their hair and they eagerly filled their lungs with it. The sun radiated warmth onto their faces, but no light could reach their eyes through the thick blindfolds.

Jack stumbled and skated down a slippery plank and onto a wet dock. Will, less experienced and surefooted, slipped near the top and slid down the rest of the way on his butt. He fell forward at the end, smashing his chin on the splintering wood. Will could hear a large crowd laughing at him and was glad Jack hadn't been able to see the spill. A strong, grizzly voice silenced those nearest to Will.

"Quit standing around giggling like a bunch of little girls! Get that clumsy bastard movin' or it'll be your arses in the dungeons!"

They were shoved through noisy crowds for what seemed like miles, but slowly the bodies began to thin and soon the only people within earshot were the crew. The terrain became rocky and they started moving uphill. It seemed to Jack that he was being purposely led straight into the biggest boulders and deepest potholes, making him fall all over the place. He felt sharp rocks tear through his pants and rip his skin as he stumbled over them.

Eventually, they were led into another cold, drafty building. They tripped up and down countless staircases and were shoved along corridors until Will walked face-first into a steel door, which seemed to please the crew quite a bit. Will was pushed aside, the door was opened, and the prisoners, now bleeding all over themselves, were thrown in.

Jack had expected to hear the door clang shut, but heard the same grizzly voice from the dock instead. "Well, well, well. The infamous Jack Sparrow. I've been looking for you for quite awhile now. What a pleasure it is to finally meet you." The voice was cold and Jack could detect no signs of pleasure.

"It's **_Captain_** Jack Sparrow! Why is that so hard to remember?" Jack was answered with a swift kick to the stomach, knocking the air out of him. He tried to regain his composure. "And may I ask who you are?" he croaked.

"Certainly **_Mr_**. Sparrow. Me name's Lange. **_Captain_** Richard Lange."


	4. Meet Captain Lange

**CHAPTER 4 – Meet Captain Lange**

The blindfolds came off and Jack's eyes adjusted to the dark. He looked this Captain Lange up and down, searching his mind for some memory of him. He found none.

"I'm terribly sorry, mate, but I don't believe I know you. So unless your quarrel is with young Mr. Turner here, I believe you have the wrong men."

"You are the captain of the Black Pearl, are you not, Mr. Sparrow?"

Jack, proud of his ship, straightened up as best as he could. "The one and only!"

"Then I believe I have the right man. As for the young whelp here, well...wrong place, wrong time. I didn't want your crew, Mr. Sparrow, only you. We were told you'd be alone. But we certainly couldn't leave any witnesses, could we? No, Mr...Turner, wasn't it? Mr. Turner would've run to your crew who would've made a gallant effort to rescue their beloved captain, and that is just more stress than I need. So your young friend will have to suffer the consequences of faulty information."

Jack stared blankly at Captain Lange. For once, he was at a complete loss for words. No one knew he was alone on the ship. No one but his crew... "That's impossible! My crew wouldn't betray me!" At least not this crew, he thought.

"Don't be naïve, laddie. Everyone has a price. Even a member of your valiant crew." The captain clapped his hands together. "But we're getting off topic. It doesn't matter how you got here as long as you're here! He knelt down and got inches away from Jack's face, choking him with foul breath. "I have some questions for you, Jack."


	5. Crystallis

**CHAPTER 5 – Crystallis**  


  
  
"You have something of mine, Sparrow, and I want it back.  
  
"You'll have to be a bit more specific. I've robbed quite a few people and I'm guessing they all want their things back."  
  
"Don't get smart with me, boy! I want my diamond. You can tell me where it is now and walk away with nothing more than a few cuts and bruises, or we can do this the hard way. What'll it be, lad?"  
  
Jack had a sinking feeling in his gut. He'd stolen many diamonds in his pirating career, but most of them had been sold or traded long ago. "Which diamond might that be?"  
  
Jack felt a sharp sting across his cheek as Lange backhanded him. "No games, Sparrow! You know damn well what I'm talking about. The diamond – Crystallis. That stone is worth more than all the rest of your pathetic plunder combined. A bigger diamond, you will never see. A bit hard to forget, wouldn't you think?"  
  
"You would, yes. I'd very much like to see such a magnificent bit of treasure, but, I assure you, I never have."  
  
Lange slammed his fist hard into Jack's injured right shoulder. Pain exploded through his arm and, though he fought to hold it back, he let out a strangled cry.  
  
"Untie their hands and lock them in. Maybe tomorrow we can compel our guests to have a nice little chat with us."  
  
When their captors had left, Will scrambled over to Jack, who was lying crumpled on the floor, clutching his shoulder. "Are you OK?"  
  
"Oh, yes, bloody great," Jack said through gritted teeth.  
  
Will gently pulled Jack upright and rested his back against the wall. "Why don't you just give up this diamond? Even if it is worth a fortune is a fortune worth your life?"  
  
"Bloody hell! I can't give up something I don't have!"  
  
"Well, who'd you give it to, then? Maybe they can steal it back."  
  
"Are you deaf, boy?! I've never had it. Never even heard of the thing. I've no idea what the man's talking about!  
  
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They spent the night in uncomfortable silence. Will assumed Jack had fallen asleep but didn't dare check. A sleeping pirate was best left that way, especially if said pirate was cranky, in pain, and sober.  
  
Will took the silence as an opportunity to think on the day's events. What was this diamond, this Crystallis? He couldn't imagine anything more valuable than all the booty he'd seen Jack pillage. Did he really steal it? How could he not have? Will stared at the quiet form of his friend resting a few feet away. These men had said Jack took this diamond, and Jack was a hard man to mistake. Will doubted there was another pirate who look or moved quite like Jack Sparrow. No, he thought, if they saw Jack steal the diamond, then Jack stole it. But why lie? Maybe he forgot. Could you forget stealing something like that?  
  
None of this was making sense and he was just giving himself a headache. He closed his eyes and drifted off into a troubled sleep.

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There was no way to tell when morning came, but a few hours later the steel door swung open, jolting Will back to cruel reality. Captain Lange and his two henchmen stood silhouetted in the doorframe. "Hello there," the captain said with false geniality. "I trust you slept well?" He snorted, enjoying the mockery.  
  
In the dim light from the corridor, Will could see Jack's face clearly for the first time in days. The kohl under his eyes was smudged and his golden tan had faded slightly from sitting in the dark for days. He looked strained and exhausted, but hadn't lost his wit. "Never slept better in me life! I thank you for your luxurious accommodations." Now that Will could see his face, it was blatantly obvious that Jack hadn't slept a wink.  
  
"Well, I'm certainly glad you're comfortable because it seems you'll be staying with us for quite a while. Unless, of course, you choose to cooperate." Lange knelt in front of Jack and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Be a good boy, Jack, and no one need get hurt...well, anymore, that is," he added with a malicious grin, glancing at Jack's tattered pants and throbbing shoulder.  
  
"I would absolutely love to help you out with this missing diamond thingy, mate. I'd jump at the chance! That would just make my day! But, alas, captain, I still have no bloody idea what you're talking about! So if you could just move aside and let me and the whelp get back to my ship, we'd really appreciate it."  
  
Lange looked long and hard into his eyes, but Jack never flinched from the cold gaze. Slowly, the captain stood up and turned to his cronies. "Tie up the quiet one and make sure he's got a good view of his friend, here." He looked back down at Jack, an evil glint in his eyes. "Time to play, Jackie."  
  
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**_A/N:_** **The plot thickens! (Ok, maybe not a very good plot and it didn't thicken very much, but still...) I didn't like this chapter very much, but I reworked it for 3 days and just hated it more and more so I finally gave up and decided to move onto a fresh chapter. I suck at dialogue, I know. The next chapter should be up this weekend (if anyone's still interested). If it goes as planned, it should explain quite a bit. It's also gonna have some Jack-abuse, just to warn ya!  
  
Thanks to everyone whose reviewed so far.**


	6. Playing Nice

Author's Note: I'm really sorry about the long delay, but it's been a really hectic week. My mom's having serious surgery next week, and this past Sunday my great-grandma died. With all of this going on, I haven't really been in the right mindset to write.  
  
Like the rest, this chapter isn't very long (sorry, but I really just wanted to get SOMETHING new up!) but it's vital. Hope it's better than the last one, at the very least. Thanks for the great reviews! They've really lifted my spirits this week.  
  
CHAPTER 6 – PLAYING NICE  
  
Jack bit down hard on his tongue and blood filled his mouth. He concentrated all his strength on his vocal cords. "Don't scream! Don't scream! Don't scream!" He could feel it coming, could feel his voice at the back of his throat, straining to break through. His teeth dug deeper into his raw tongue.  
  
They laid blow after blow on him, battering his chest, his stomach, his back. He wouldn't let himself cry out though; wasn't going to give them that satisfaction. After all, he was Captain Jack Sparrow! Of course, that didn't seem like much here and now, lying on the filthy dirt floor, crumpled into a pathetic little ball in a futile attempt to ward off the vicious kicks and punches.  
  
Will struggled against the irons chaining him to the wall, his eyes glued to Jack. He didn't think about what he would do if he broke free; didn't stop to consider his chances against three older, stronger men. His friend needed help and Will wasn't about to just stand there and watch. Then again, it wasn't like he had much of a choice, being chained to a wall.  
  
Captain Lange turned from the scene to watch Will fight the shackles. "What's the matter, boy? Don't like what you see?"  
  
Bereft of a better response, Will spit at Lange's feet. "Bastard!"  
  
"My, aren't you the witty one!" He causally slouched against the wall next to Will and went on in a friendly tone. "Personally, I find it quite amusing. All he has to do is give me back my diamond and you can both go on your merry way. It's not my fault he's a stubborn fool."  
  
"He never saw your diamond before!" Will still wasn't sure he believed this, but he wasn't about to betray Jack by agreeing with this man.  
  
"Never saw it? HA! Unless the boy is blind, he's seen Crystallis. I watched his bloody boat sail away with it!"  
  
"It's not a boat, it's a ship," Will retorted, ready to do battle in any possible way.  
  
"We just get wittier and wittier, don't we?"  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
He didn't mean to do it, but it happened anyway.  
  
The scar-faced man gathered all his strength and delivered one final  
blow to Jack's chest. Even through the noise filling the small cell, the  
jeers and curses of the men beating him, Jack could hear the quick, sharp  
crack, followed immediately by an intense pain and a low, guttural,  
agonizing moan. It wasn't until the beatings stopped a second later that  
Jack realized he had made the noise himself. When his rib snapped, he  
lost the battle with his vocal cords and cried out. He hadn't meant to do  
it, but it happened anyway.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Lange called off Jack's attackers the second he heard him moan. That  
was exactly what he'd been waiting for. To make Captain Jack Sparrow yell  
out in pain was quite a feat. Lange was certain he had won; surely  
Sparrow would talk now!  
  
"What say you, now, Jack? Ready for that little chat?"  
  
Jack tried to answer, but all he managed was a pain-filled grunt.  
  
"That's one rib, eleven more to go. If I were you, I'd spill my guts  
before someone spills them for me- all over the floor. Where is  
Crystallis, Sparrow?"  
  
"No bloody idea," Jack croaked weakly. "I've never heard of it."  
  
"Have it your way, then. I'm sure my lads wouldn't mind another go at  
ya."  
  
"Well, actually, Cap'n, we was lookin' forward to joining the crew for  
some fun in the town."  
  
"Aye, and me leg's gettin' tired. Can't we finish him in the mornin'"  
  
Lange was just about to pounce on his lazy men and force them on Jack  
when he rethought it. Sparrow could wait 'til tomorrow. Let him have his  
night in agony, wondering what the morning would bring. "Very well. But  
we'll be back in the morning. I've been chasing that diamond for the past  
four years and you'll give it to me if it kills you." With that, he  
stormed out the door, followed by his two attack dogs (after untying  
Will) and slammed it behind them.  
  
Will knew he should rush over to Jack, but his brain wouldn't let him  
move. Lange saw the Black Pearl sail away with the diamond four years  
ago. But four years ago, Jack wasn't captain of the Black Pearl... 


	7. Revelations

I'm really sorry about the long delay. Major writer's block. Turns out I can only write when I'm in school. Go figure. This chapter blows anyways. It's basically just filler to get to the next chapter, which will be fill or Jack-Torture (and minimal Will-Torture, I'm guessing). Hopefully, that one should be up in the next couple of days ("hopefully" being the operative word, of course).  
  
Actually, I need some help for the next chapter. How much Jack-Torture should I put in there? I don't want to go too far and turn people off, so let me know what you'd consider too much. (I promise to let him keep all his limbs and other..."essential" parts. I flat out refuse to make him a eunuch!)  
  
Thanks a lot for all the great reviews! When I finally finish this thing, I promise to thank you all personally. So please keep reviewing! Hopefully this chapter isn't as bad as I think it is.  
  
CHAPTER 7 – REVELATIONS  
  
It took a good few minutes for Will's mind to float back down to Earth. Once it had reconnected with his body, he noticed Jack on the floor. He was making a sorry attempt to push himself up with his left arm while holding his injured right arm to his aching chest. Obviously, he was not having much success. Will watched him blankly for a moment before snapping out of his daze. He grabbed Jack around the chest to pull him upright, not thinking clearly enough to realize where Jack was hurt the worst.  
  
A sharp hiss of pain escaped through his gritted teeth, and Will froze with his hand pressed unintentionally into Jack's broken rib. A high- pitched squeak echoed through the room and Will dropped Jack and jumped back. "MOUSE!" Will stood on his tip-toes and scanned the cell frantically for the terrifying beast. Though he may be as brave as any other man in the face of undead pirates, rodents were out of his league.  
  
He listened intently for the scurrying of little feet, but all he could hear was Jack's ragged breathing. In a few seconds, Will's brain processed the scene and he realized the squeak hadn't come from a rogue mouse but from an aching Jack.  
  
He dashed over to the captain, still sprawled out on the floor, but was quickly slapped away. "Don't touch me, whelp! Just stand back and no one gets hurt – at least not me." Will did as he was told and watched in awe as Jack somehow managed to wriggle and worm his way into a sitting position, determined to do it without help since the help only seemed to be capable of making everything hurt worse than before.  
  
Will anxiously shifted his weight from foot to foot, waiting impatiently as Jack slowly and cautiously laid his back against the wall. When he heard a small sigh escape Jack's lips, Will dropped to his knees in front of him, a little too eager to share his discovery.  
  
Jack tried to ignore him, being in far too much pain to care about much of anything, but Will was practically bouncing with pent up excitement. With an exasperated sigh (which he quickly regretted as pain shot through his chest), Jack turned his attention to the younger man, silently beckoning him to speak.  
  
Will didn't need any more encouragement. "It was Barbossa, Jack! You didn't still that diamond, you couldn't have! Barbossa had the Pearl four years ago! That's what Lange said, Jack! Didn't you hear? It was four years ago! You're innocent!" The words tumbled out on top of each other, as Will's tongue couldn't keep up with his mind.  
  
It took Jack a second to decipher the incoherent message. Mostly, he only managed to catch the last part, but when he did he had to stop himself from sighing again. "Yes, dear William, I was privy to that information already. I did, in fact, know that I was innocent. If I had taken that bloody thing, chances are I'd remember it – even if I did me bloody brains out first," he added, anticipating Will's next comment.  
  
Will rocked back on his heals and stared at the ground, slightly disappointed that his epiphany hadn't been appreciated. His spirits were lifted, however, a moment later when Jack spoke again.  
  
"Barbossa..."  
  
"Exactly! You only took the Black Pearl back a year ago, so when Lange saw the ship it had to be Barbossa! Now they have to let us go, we have proof you didn't steal it!"  
  
"That is a wonderful theory, William, but it is just that: a theory. Nothing more. We have no proof, and, considering I killed the man who did take that diamond...thingy," he waved his hands around animatedly in typical Jack-fashion, nearly smacking Will in the face, "I doubt they'll just take your word for it."  
  
"But they can't keep an innocent man locked up!"  
  
"Don't be naïve boy. This ain't the law, it's piracy." Jack closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall, signifying the end of the conversation.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Captain Richard Lange sat silently in his dark room, thinking too deeply to even notice the raucous laughter and singing from his crew gathered down the hall. He was shaken out of his reverie by a loud knock at his door. "What is it?" he growled bitterly.  
  
His scar-faced lackey stepped in and let his eyes focus to the darkness. "We was all fixin' to head out to the town, sir. Would you be joinin' us?"  
  
"Aye, I'll follow ye presently. Make sure you leave two men here to guard our...friends." The man nodded and left, closing the door quietly behind him, leaving Lange to his thoughts once more. As it usually had for the past four years, his mind turned to Jack Sparrow. The bloody, stubborn git! Well, he'd talk eventually. For four years Lange had searched for the Black Pearl and its notorious captain. Now that he had him in his grasp he wasn't letting go. One way or the other, the bastard would give up Crystallis. 


	8. Will's Turn

I know, I know, I lied. This chapter should've been up days ago but I've been procrastinating. I'm good at that. Lied about another thing, too. Turns out this chapter is torture-free, for the most part. But I HAVE started Chapter 9 and there will definitely be some good abuse in that one. 

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and special thanks to the people who gave me ideas. Since I postponed the torture chapter I'm still open to suggestions, so please let me know how much torture you want so I don't offend anyone by going torture-crazy.

Yes, I know the formatting sucks, but hopefully I can get that worked out for the next chapter. Sometimes I really hate the Internet!

That said, on with the show!

CHAPTER 8 – WILL'S TURN 

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Captain Richard Lange held true to his word. He would stop at nothing to get the information he wanted. The next day the captain wasted no time in rousing his hung over men, who grudgingly followed him to the dungeons. There they found the guards slumped down in their chairs, rum bottles strewn at their feet. Lange kicked them awake before flinging the door open.

The dim light from the torches in the hall cast an eerie glow across the room and shown on Jack like a spotlight. Lange found him with his back against the wall, his eyes squeezed tightly shut to fight the pain coursing through his body. An evil grin spread across the captain's face as he thought about all the fun he would soon be having with this man. "So nice to see you again, lad. All rested?"

It had been about a week now since Jack had last seen the Pearl, and in that time he hadn't gotten more than a few hours of sleep. On top of that, he had been awake for two straight days before he was even kidnapped. Jack Sparrow was anything but rested. Between the pain and exhaustion he was barely even conscious. "Slept like a baby. I must say, you have the most comfortable cell floor I've ever had the pleasure of sleeping on." Jack's spirits didn't break as easily as his ribs.

"Well, I'm certainly glad you're energized, Jackie, 'cause today we're gonna have some fun."

"Oh, but yesterday was so much fun, I think I'm all 'funned' out. Come back tomorrow and maybe we can play cards."

"I'd love to, Sparrow, but I don't think you'll be up to a card game tomorrow." He turned to his crew. "You know what to do." Two burly men grabbed Jack roughly by the arms and dragged him towards the door. He gritted his teeth and swallowed the scream that threatened to betray his agony. He had spent all night doing this and had gotten quite good at suppressing his voice. 'At least for now,' he thought bitterly to himself, knowing that far worse was yet to come, Lange being the crazy bastard that he was.

Will, who had been scrunched up in the darkest corner watching the scene play out before him, jumped up when the men started to drag Jack away. "Where are you taking him?!"

Lange turned to Will and stared at him with a mix of mild surprise and amusement. "I'd nearly forgotten you were there, boy! Thank you for reminding me. I might've left the door unlocked and let you escape. Or worse yet, you might've made some gallant attempt to rescue your friend and would've interfered with the interrogation. My, it certainly is a good thing you alerted us to your presence." He chuckled at Will's expression as he realized his mistake. 

Lange turned to leave the cell, but stopped at the door. "On second thought, let's bring young Mr. Turner with us. I wouldn't mind having a little…chat with him."

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Will was led behind Jack up and down numerous corridors. They hadn't been blindfolded this time, but had made so many turns, Will was sure he'd be lost down there forever if his guards abandoned him. Jack stumbled and tripped from time to time but determinately managed most of the journey on his own two feet. When he did fall, though, his guards were more than happy to drag him along roughly until he could regain his footing.

Eventually, Lange stopped the procession. "Leave the kid here. Chain 'im to the wall then leave us. Send for me when Sparrow's ready, but don't touch 'im till I get there."

When his men had carried out the orders and Will was once again chained to a wall, Lange stared at him. "How long have you known Sparrow?" Will stared back at him but refused to answer. "Oh, come now, boy! Learn to pick your battles. If you're going to be difficult, at least save your strength for a good question."

Although he didn't want to admit it, Will knew this was good advice. "One year," he answered reluctantly. 

Lange looked him up and down. "You certainly don't seem like the pirate type."

"That's probably because I'm not a pirate. I'm a blacksmith."

"Oh! Look at you! Now you're offering up information I hadn't even asked for! I knew you'd warm up to me."

Will scowled but wisely kept his mouth shut.

"A blacksmith, huh? A bit odd, isn't it," Lange continued, "that a man like Jack Sparrow would befriend a blacksmith?"

"What do you know about Jack Sparrow?! He's a good man!"

"Good men don't steal other men's diamonds. But you are right about one thing. I don't know anything about Jack Sparrow. Nor do I care to," he added as Will opened his mouth to inform him of Jack's many virtues. "I don't give a damn what kind of man he is or what else he's done as long as he gives me back my Crystallis. All I know is that he is, as he said himself, the 'one and only' captain of the Black Pearl and that's all I need to know."

"Then you don't know about the mutiny! Jack lost the _Black Pearl_ for 10 years to Captain Barbossa and his crew of undead pirates. I helped him get it back only a year ago when Barbossa kidnapped the woman I love. So obviously, Jack couldn't have taken that diamond four years ago because he wasn't captain of the _Black Pearl _then!" As the summarized tale came pouring out, Lange stared at the young man incredulously. 

"You mean to tell me," Lange started slowly, "that the great Captain Jack Sparrow lost his ship to _undead_ pirates who kidnapped your girlfriend. Then _you_ helped him rescue the girl and reclaim the ship. Is that correct?"

"Well, actually they weren't undead when they mutinied. And she wasn't my girlfriend at the time."

Lange continued to stare blankly at him.

"Well, when you put it that way it doesn't sound very impressive, but it was quite the adventure."

"Oh, I'm sure it was." Lange rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands and held his head for a moment before looking back at Will. "That was quite the story, boy, and if I had a bit of rum in me I just might believe it. Unfortunately for you, I'm not that stupid." Will was about to insist when the door swung open.

The two burly men who had dragged Jack along walked in. "Sparrow's set, sir."

"Good, good. Stay here and see what you can squeeze out of the kid. He's been quite amusing, but not very useful so far." Lange walked to the door chuckling. "Undead pirates…HA!"

 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

When Lange had left, the men both grinned at Will. In the light streaming down from a small window at the top of the cell, he could see that they were identical. Both were tall with bulging muscles and no hair. Neither looked particularly friendly.

Let's get down to business," said one of the twins. "We want that diamond as much as the Captain, 'cause a share of that's ours. So you're gonna give it to us, boy."

"I can't! I've already told you, I don't-" Will doubled over as best he could while being chained to a wall when the second twin punched him in the gut.

"Now ya wanna tell us?"

"How can I, I don't kn-" A fist connected with his jaw and his mouth filled with blood.

The question was asked four more times, and the answer was the same four more times, as was the painful response.

"Give us the diamond, you bloody fool!"

"I TOLD YOU, I DON'T HAVE-" On the fifth time, Will was cut off, not by a painful blow, but from a bloodcurdling scream. 


	9. Banter

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm sorry!! For many reasons: 1) This update was long overdue. 2) This chapter is far to short for my liking. And 3) I promised I'd finally get on with the torture, but I put it off again._

_The reason for all of this is that I have suffered the worse case of writer's block I have ever had. In one week, I wrote one sentence. Then I scribbled it out. So yesterday, I forsook my Lit class and used the hour to write this chapter. _

_Let me warn you: Nothing happens. Thus, the chapter title. I was going to make it longer and include the torture, but I knew I'd end up getting stuck again and figured I might as well get SOMETHING new posted in the mean time. I'm sorry. Please don't hurt me!!_

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**CHAPTER 9 – BANTER**

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"Undead pirates…HA!" Lange shut the door behind him. "Kid's got some imagination. I could almost respect that. Too bad it'll get 'im killed." He walked a short ways down the hall and pushed open another steel door.

This room was a bit larger than Will's cell, but there were no windows. Instead the room was lit by bright torches, hung on the wall every few feet. In one corner, there stood a glowing furnace. There was a long, skinny wooden table in the center. On it laid Jack.

His feet were spread to the width of his shoulders and his arms were stretched over his head. His ankles and wrists were lashed down with old, splintery rope that dug into his flesh. The white shirt he had been wearing had been sliced down the middle and now lay crumpled in the corner. A thin coat of perspiration covering his naked torso glinted in the firelight. His toned chest trembled with every ragged breath as he struggled with the broken rib. He was very vulnerable, and vulnerable was not something Jack Sparrow liked to be.

"How are ya, lad?"

Jack was sick of this game. He grinned up at Lange but didn't speak. If he did, he was afraid his voice would betray his weakness. Better to stay silent and save face while he still could.

"Tsk, tsk, Jack. It's rude not to answer your host."

"No more rude that tying your guest to a table." His voice was strained, but still under his control.

"You may have a point there, Sparrow. Tell ya what, you tell me what you did with my diamond, I'll untie you, and we can both take etiquette lessons from Mr. Turner."

"Well, mate, I don't think there's anything you can do to me that could be more painful that etiquette lessons from the whelp."

"Is that a challenge? I do love a good challenge." He turned to face his men. "Mr. Sparrow here doesn't believe we can be worse than his little friend. Shall we prove him wrong?"

Jack twisted his neck as much as he could, trying to see what was going on behind him, but to no avail. He strained to hear any sounds that might give it away but couldn't make anything out.

"What's wrong, Jack? Nervous?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Well, of course I'm bloody nervous! Unless I'm sorely mistaken, you are about to torture me, are you not? I think most people would be a little nervous in my situation."

"Just don't wet yourself, Jackie. Wouldn't wanna ruin my table. Are we ready, Peters?" He addressed Jack's old friend with the scarred face.

"Ready an' willin', Cap'n"

"One last chance, Sparrow."

"To do what? Appease you with stories only to go through this charade again when you find out I lied? Sorry, Lange, but I'm not really feeling creative enough to make anything up just now."

Lange sighed. "Suit yourself, boy, but don't say I didn't give you every opportunity to talk."

"I would never dream of slandering your good name."

"Sarcastic to the end. I'll be sure to mention that at your funeral."

"Oh, you're gonna give me one! How lovely! And here I figured you'd just drop me in the sea without a word."

"Oh, no, Sparrow, I've got it all written. 'He was a stubborn man; a stupid man. He was a thief and a liar. Now he's shark fodder.' How was that?"

"Beautiful! Couldn't have said it better meself. Of course I might've added, 'He was a handsome man with exquisite taste, the fastest ship in the Caribbean, and hundreds of beautiful women falling at his feet.' But yours was good, too."

"Glad you liked it. But now I think Peters is getting impatient, so I'll just step aside."

"Shame to die so young and pretty. And just think of all the women you'll be depriving."

"Who said anything about dying pretty? And as for all the women…don't worry, I'll take care of that. Get on with it, Peters!"

Jack kept his expression calm as Peters loomed over him, but his mind was racing, desperately trying to predict what was about to happen to him. His mind froze, along with his blood, when he saw what Peters was holding: a metal rod, about two feet long, with the last few inches heated to a bright red.

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: Since the torture is bound to be in the next chapter, I think I'll have to raise the rating to R._


	10. To No Avail

**Author's Note**: Ok, this chapter has been torturing me in every which way ever since I even thought about beginning it. I carried around my stupid notebook for days, trying to beat this thing out of my head. When I finally got it started, it took me 2 hours to write the first couple hundred words, which pretty much got rewritten later. But today I finished! It's not as good, detailed, or long as I'd planned, but I'm sick of staring at it. So I come home from school all ready to type it up and get it posted, only to find that my modem had been fried by lightning!!!! LIGHTNING!!! I'm started to think I wasn't meant to post this stupid chapter. But, I lugged my laptop over to my dad's house and am now trying to type this with his big fat cat's butt in my face (blame him for the typos) because I am determined to get this thing on the Internet and out of my site! Let's see what goes wrong this time.

I know I made it sound like this chapter would be really gory, but turns out I didn't have the stomach for my own ideas. I tried to write it and nearly got sick in first hour, so I toned it down a bit. Hope it's still good enough.

**CHAPTER 10 – TO NO AVAIL**

            There was no point in trying not to scream. Even before the metal rod touched his skin he knew he would. It was futile to waste his energy on a war with his vocal chords. So he didn't.

            Ask him later, and Jack wouldn't be able to say if he had screamed or not. All he knew at that moment was pain. The metal pressed into his stomach, just below his broken rib, scorching him. Words flashed across his brain, blocking out all else. "FIRE! PAIN! HELP! STOP!"

            Suddenly, the room was empty. He heard no voices and saw nothing but black. But the pain was still there…and a stench. He knew he recognized it. The back of his mind awoke and searched his memory, desperately trying to place the smell. Then it froze on an image. He could see a fire, raging through a town, people running and screaming, trapped in buildings, burning to death. "So that's it, is it? That's what you smell," his brain said, with a surprising calm. "Burning flesh. You're burning alive, Jack." His pain-addled mind found this rather humorous, but when he opened his mouth to laugh he only screamed again.

            Lange's men took turns with the metal rods. One after another they would sear his chest and stomach, then go back to reheat the instrument. Lange himself did not participate, but stood at Jack's head, arms crossed over his chest, staring down at the pirate withering in agony. Jack's eyes were open and he was looking directly at Lange, but the older man knew he was seeing nothing. He leaned down and whispered into Jack's ear, "You brought this on yourself, lad."

            Slowly, Jack's senses came back to him. He could hear distant laughter and voices that steadily grew louder and louder until they surrounded him and rattled his brain. His vision was blurry but worked its way back into focus. When he could see clearly he was horrified to find himself staring directly into Lange's eyes.

This did not escape Lange's attention. "Welcome back to the land of the living, boy. You won't be here for long."

            Lange pushed open the door of Will's cell. The twins were leaning against the far wall, ignoring the bloody mess chained opposite them. They had given up on the young blacksmith not long after the screams had started down the hall, preferring to relax and enjoy the show. They had taken bets on how long Jack would last.

            "Any success?"

            "Bloody whelp's useless. He ain't sayin' nothin'."

            Lange peered closely at Will. "Well, of course ht's not. It seems you've beat him unconscious. Let's see if we can remedy that." A bucket of rancid water sat in the corner, and Lange threw it in Will's face. The blacksmith woke with a start as the cold water splashed into his face and cascaded down his chest, mixing with the fresh blood staining his shirt.

            "Good to see you're awake, Mr. Turner. I hear you've been less than cooperative."

            "Hard to cooperate when you don't have any answers," Will slurred, the blood thick in his mouth.

            Lange gave a melodramatic sigh. "Very well, boy, you win. For today that is. If you're too damned stubborn to respond to such a thorough beating, then I'll have to take more drastic measures."

            "How lovely."

            "Well, I didn't have much of a choice. In the grand scheme of things, you're really no worse for wear. But Mr. Sparrow is quite a different story. You see, he's being much more difficult than I had anticipated. If I continue with my current methods he'll soon be dead and, frankly, he's not good to me in that condition. Oh, trust me, it would make me truly happy to watch the life drain out of him, but dead men tell no tales, eh? There's one tale I need him to tell me before I get to live out my dream. Unchain him," he commanded the twins.

            Will dropped to the ground and collapsed. His whole body ached and his head felt like it was on the verge of exploding, but he still managed to push himself to his knees. It seemed he was momentarily stuck there, though, as his body refused to move further.

            "I don't have time for this nonsense! Carry the bastard!"

            As he was roughly hoisted off the ground, Will grunted. Inside, he wanted to cry and scream and curse and fight, all at once. But it all came out as a barely audible grunt.

            The twins carried Will under the arms, letting his feet drag along the stone floor. He figured he could stumble along on his own well enough, but why bother? Take the free ride, he thought. The twins stopped for a moment before a door as Lange leaned in.

            "Bring him out now…No don't bother with that…Just grab his boot!" Will watched through bloody, half-swollen eyes as they dragged Jack out of the room by one leg. The dim light radiating from the torches hung on the walls illuminated the unconscious pirate's bare torso. Will gasped.

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I wanted to thank you all personally, but I have to drive home before it gets dark, so I'm running short on time. Please keep them coming, I'm sure all you writers know what they mean to me.**


	11. It'll Be Fun!

_Author's Note: I know, I know, this stupid little chapter took forever to get up. And, once again, nothing happens. I'm really sorry, and I don't even have a good excuse. Truth is, I'd kinda given up on this story for a while, so I had to write **something** to get back in the groove. Hopefully after this, I can get back to the point. _

_Sorry about this, just please stick with me!!_

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**CHAPTER 11 – IT'LL BE FUN!**

The heavy door slammed shut, leaving Will alone to tend to Jack. Lange had left a small torch with them this time. "At least we have that to be thankful for," Will said, more to himself than the unconscious Jack.

He dragged himself to the pirate's side and tried to decide what to do with him. He had been burned rather brutally, that much was obvious. Working in a blacksmith's shop for years had given Will his fair share of burns, albeit none this severe. He knew he needed cold water and gauze to ease the pain and prevent infection, neither of which was to be found in their little prison. Jack had quickly finished off all the rum they had been given with their pathetic meals, and the rancid water gathering in the corners of the dank cell would probably just make any infection worse.

            Will sighed. "I guess we'll just have to make do," he muttered, taking off his dirty white shirt. He knew he'd have to tear it into shreds to wrap Jack's chest, but he wasn't happy about it.

"You know who gave me this shirt, Jack? My wife. My beautiful, brilliant, perfect wife, who I should be home with right now," he complained as he destroyed the once-beautiful gift. "I should be snuggled up with her in our cozy little house in front of a warm fire, but NO! I have to be here with YOU! I'm bruised, I'm sore, I'm covered in blood, and I feel like I've been beaten with a sledgehammer – which actually isn't that far off if you consider that I was being pummeled by bloody giants!

            "And it's all your fault! 'You need a vacation, whelp,' you said. 'Come to Tortuga with me,' you said. '_It'll be fun!'_ you said. Now, I know you and I have different definitions of 'fun', but _this is not fun! _Any way you slice it, this is not fun." Will finished tearing the shirt and looked at Jack. "I blame you."

            He stopped ranting as he wrapped the makeshift bandages around the pirate's torso, careful not to make them too tight. Jack winced and whimpered softly in a very unpirate-like fashion as the cloth touched his burnt flesh, but he remained unconscious.

Will gently rubbed the smeared kohl away from his eyes and sat back to studied his friend. He realized he couldn't really be mad at Jack, not for long, anyhow. In the dim light radiating from the torch, he looked rather innocent; not very much like a notorious pirate captain. If it hadn't been for his ragged breathing, he would've seemed deceptively peaceful, relaxed almost. He reminded Will of a sick child, and the blacksmith had to fight the sudden urge to comfort him.

Will jumped to his feet and began pacing the small cell, talking to himself to occupy his wandering mind. "He put you here, remember, Will? That is not a sick child lying there, that is a pirate who pillages and plunders and drinks far too much rum! He's tough, he'll be fine. Stop fretting over him and be mad! You're supposed to be mad at him!"

Glancing back at Jack, Will could almost hear his slurred voice. "Ya know, it's not a good sign to be talkin' to yerself, whelp. Too much time in the sun. Maybe you should start wearing hats. I'll even buy ya one! A big one!"

Will stood over Jack and squinted down at him, wondering if he had really spoken or if he had imagined it. Sadly, the pirate was still unconscious. "Maybe I really am losing it," he muttered. "Probably _is_ too much sun. Or maybe too much Jack."

He sunk to the floor and held his head in his hands. There was nothing more he could do for Jack for the time being, and he was in pain and utterly exhausted. He curled up near the pirate and fell asleep in minutes.

            Jack felt nothing. There was no pain, no sensations of any kind. He was numb. A second ago, his world had been dark. Now it was filled with a familiar image.

He was in William Turner's blacksmith shop, sitting atop a very bitter donkey. "You need a vacation, whelp! You work hard all day, toiling away in this pit, being all _respectable_, only to go home and be nagged all night by that pretty young wife of yours. Come to Tortuga with me!" It was funny, he thought, that he could hear himself speaking the familiar words but heard Will's voice echoing them at the same time.

            "I have work to do here, Jack. I just don't have time to go running off to Tortuga."

            "Oh, trust me, Will, you need this. Have I ever given you reason not to trust me? It'll be fun!"

            As the comforting image faded and an intense pain began to creep up on Jack, he had the sudden notion that he had been drastically wrong.

**Thanks to everyone who's reviewed this thing so far! And to everyone who actually sat through this pointless chapter. I'll try to get more up soon, as long as people are still interested. **


	12. Opportunities Arise

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE: _**_Once again, I'm sorry for the long, inexcusable delay between chapters. Seems I can't get motivated to write unless I'm sitting bored in school. I wrote this chapter quickly so I could get it posted before I leave for __Colorado__. My flight leaves in a couple hours, so I don't have time to proofread this. When I get home, I'll try to fix any typos. _

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**CHAPTER 12 – OPPORTUNITIES ARISE**

****

Will woke with a start. He hadn't really been in a deep sleep, but something must've happened for him to have been jarred awake so suddenly. His eyes searched the cell, but they were still clouded with sleep and nothing could penetrate the darkness, anyhow. The torch had burned out in the night, leaving Will alone and enveloped in black.

'No, that's not true,' he thought to himself. 'Not alone. With Jack.' Jack. Where was Jack? Will's sleepy mind tired to recall the events of the day before, but everything had been reduced to a blur.

As his eyes adjusted to the surrounding dark, Will saw Jack, right where he had left him, sprawled out on the ground just a few feet away. Instinctively, the young blacksmith went to stand up, his mind set on making sure his friend was still alive. However, he soon learned this was a bad idea. As the pain surged through every inch of his body, settling ruthlessly in his head, Will suddenly remembered, in all-too-vivid detail, exactly what had happened yesterday.

He carefully lowered himself back to the floor and listened for Jack's ragged breathing. "Well, he's obviously still alive. That'll have to be good enough for now." He didn't plan on moving any time soon.

"Of course he's still bloody alive. Is there another option?"

Will jumped unintentionally at the pirate's raspy voice. "You're awake!"

"How very observant of you." The weakened, pain-filled voice was barely recognizable as Jack's, but the sarcastic undertones were undoubtedly his. "But honestly, whelp, is there another option? 'Cause the whole _alive_ thing hasn't really been working for me as of late."

"Ya know, Jack, depression really isn't your forte."

"Can't argue with that, mate," Jack said with all the false exuberance he could manage.

Will groaned as he pushed himself to his hands and knees and crawled the five feet to Jack's side. Squinting through the blackness between them, Will could just make out the pirate's sharp, angular features. His eyes were squeezed tight against the pain and his jaw clenched, making his teeth grind roughly together.

Near his head, there was a large chunk of stone that had crumbled from the thick walls. Will picked it up and tossed it absentmindedly back and forth, from one hand to the other, as he gazed down at the crazy, brilliant, indomitable pirate Captain.

"We have to get out of here, Jack. This has gone on long enough. We have to get you away from this psychotic bastard before it's too late."

"Are you so sure that ship hasn't already sailed, mate?"

In the short year they had known each other, Will had never seen Jack this pessimistic, never seen him give up hope. He had begun to think that that was one side of the great Jack Sparrow that had vanished long ago. This newly discovered negative outlook was beginning to worry Will as much as the burns on his friend's chest.

-------------------------------

Escaping form a concrete prison was easier said than done, as Will soon found out. He circled the cell, doing his best to ignore his throbbing head, searching every crevice and corner for any possible way out. There was none.

Jack wriggled his way into a sitting position, resting his back gingerly against the stone. A small gasp escaped his lips as his injured shoulder hit the rough edges of the dent in the wall. The chunk of rock that had once filled that dent sat at his side, ignored by the pirate. He watched the hazy image of his friend surveying the prison through eyes glazed over with pain.

Will collapsed next to Jack, abandoning his fruitless mission. "No way out, is there, whelp?"

"There's always a way out!" retorted the ever-optimistic blacksmith. "I just haven't found it yet." Will watched the pirates bandaged chest tremble as it rose and fell slowly with his labored breathing. "Maybe it _is_ pointless. Even if we find a way out of here somehow, I can't imagine we'd get you very far."

Jack tried to chuckle, but it came out as a low moan. "Whelp, you find a way out of here and, I promise you, I'll run as if the very hounds of hell were nipping at my heels."

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Will shielded his eyes as light flooded through the small room. After being trapped in the dark for so long, the brightness was blinding. He shadow silhouetted in the doorway laughed menacingly. "Cap'n says I gotta feed the scum. Says yer no good to us starved to death. Don't see why, meself. The way I see it, the emptier yer bellies, the looser yer lips." When the man was a bit closer, Will recognized him as Jack's old scar-faced friend, Peters.

"What's this ye get 'ere?" Peters nudged the broken stone chunk with his toe.

Will and Jack both stared at the stone. "Looks like a rock to me, mate," Jack slurred, strong traces of his old voice breaking through.

"Does it now? 'Cause it looks an awful lot like a weapon to me. Can't have this just lyin' around dangerous criminals such as yerselves." With that, Peters kicked the harmless rock toward the open door.

"Eat up now, boys. I 'ear the Cap'n's got another fun-filled day all planned out for ye!" And, with other mirthless laugh, Peters left the injured men along, letting the heavy door swing shut behind him.

Jack rubbed his strained eyes. 'Let in the dark again."

"Not quite."

Jack opened his eyes and followed Will's ling of vision to a thin streak of light shining through a small crack in the door. Jack found himself once again staring at the broken chunk of wall as it propped the door open.

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**Thanks for sticking with me this far! I really appreciate all your reviews and I hope to find more when I come home!! It'll be a long, boring flight, so I plan to get Chapter 13 written. With any luck, I'll be able to post that next Friday. See ya then!**


	13. Of Labyrinths and Hats

**_Author's Note: _**_I am so sorry! This was supposed to be up weeks ago! I have a lot of excuses (true ones!) involving notebooks left on airplanes, broken laptops, brain surgery, and newborn kittens, but I won't bore you with all that. _

_To my surprise, Will seems to have taken over this story. Don't know how that happened. It was meant to be Jack's. Oh well, it's almost over anyway. **Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this. Please do it again!!**_

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**CHAPTER 13 – Of Labyrinths and Hats**

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            "Bloody idiot!"

            "Quiet! Keep your voice down or they'll hear you and shut the door. Then you, dear William, will be the bloody idiot."

            "Sorry, sorry." Will dropped his voice down to a low whisper. "This is our chance! If we don't get out now, we never will."

            "Way ahead of you," Jack tried to push himself to his feet without using his right arm or moving his torso too much. He didn't make much progress. Will wrapped his arm gently around Jack's back, careful not to hurt the pirate beyond what was inevitable, and eased him to his feet.

            "Are you sure you can do this?"

            "Ain't nothin' wrong with me legs," Jack looked down at his tattered pants and torn skin. "Well, at least they're better off than the rest of me."

            Will let go of Jack so he could tip-toe to the cracked door and peer out. "I think the guards fell asleep." He turned back to Jack only to find the pirate Captain swaying uneasily on his feet, dangerously close to toppling back to the cold stone floor. Will quickly steadied him and supported the bulk of his weight, which thankfully wasn't much, given Will's own feeble state. To his surprise, Jack didn't even fight it. He forgot what pride he had left and leaned heavily against his friend, taking all the help he could get.

            They edged the heavy door open as quietly as its rusted hinges would allow and stepped out. The guards didn't move an inch. Jack nudged one of the many empty rum bottles with his foot. "I think _'asleep'_ was a bit of an understatement."

            Together, they crept softy forward, as quickly as they dared, trying to keep their footsteps from echoing through the hollow corridors.

            This first hall was long, made longer by their creeping pace. It twisted left and right and seemed to go on forever, but Will thanked his lucky stars he hadn't had to make any directional decisions yet. Eventually, he knew, they'd come to a crossroads. And then…what if he led Jack right into their hands? _'Relax!'_ he told himself. _'Have some confidence!'_

            When they finally hit it, Will groaned far louder than he should have. It was worse than he had imagined. To the right was a staircase heading down; to the left, one going up. His little pep talk failed and his self-confidence plummeted.

            "Bloody hell! There's no way to know the right path!" A hint of panic worked its way into his voice, despite his resolve to keep cool.

            "If I may interject, in my experience, dungeons of that sort are typically found below ground."

            "You can tell that just from being in the cell? How experienced are you?"

            "Not very. But I seem to recall being pushed down far more flights of stairs than I was dragged up.

            "Ah, yes. Well, then, 'up' it is." Will turned his face away from Jack as they passed through the eerie orange glow of a torch to hide the deep red blush that had covered his face._ 'Of course we have to go up!! Think, Will, think. If Jack can remember how we got here after he was…well, after all he went through, then **you **certainly can!' _Will chastised himself over and over, determined to stay calm and take control of the unfamiliar situation. _'If a half-dead pirate can find his way out of here, why can't you?'_

            They conquered the first staircase with surprising ease and slowly worked their way through the maze, Will feigning confidence in his abilities to lead. He could only pray they were getting closer to freedom as he half-carried Jack up yet another winding staircase.

            "Bloody labyrinth, ain't it." Will jumped, wrenched away from his drifting thoughts. How long had they gone without speaking? "Kinda spooky," Jack continued, doing his best to keep the exhaustion and pain out of his voice. "Almost expect one of those Mini-Bull thingys to pop out, don't ya?"

            "Mini-what? You mean the Minotaur? That was hardly a 'mini-bull', Jack. It was half-"

            "Ya know what, whelp? I don't really care. I was just tryin' to make conversation, not spark a history lesson."

            "Well, actually, it's not history, it's mythology. The Greeks-"

            "SHH!" Jack froze and clamped a hand over Will's mouth. "Stop your bloody ramblin' and listen," he whispered.  Will strained his ears and could just make out the sound of voices echoing down the hall. It was very soft, barely even audible, but clearly men's voices.

            Jack took his hand off Will's mouth and nudged him in the back, urging him on. They slinked forward stealthily, listening intently as the echoes grew louder with each step. Up ahead, the hall bent right. They both peered cautiously around the corner. Jack's hand flew to Will's mouth to stifle the groan which he correctly predicted would come. They had found the source of the noise. Down the hall, on the left-hand side, a door was hanging open. The light from the room spilled out into the corridor, illuminating it better than any torch. From the sounds of things, there was a bit of a party going on.

Jack pushed Will forward again, but this time he didn't move. "Maybe we took a wrong turn. We should go back and try a different route."

            "This is it, William. Down this hall, around that corner and we're free. Guarantee it. It's in the air. This is the only way out."

            Jack was right. He didn't like to admit it, but he was. After breathing in the rotten, putrid, dungeon air for days, the scent of the fresh country air blended with the salt of the sea was overwhelming. The only way out was past that room.

            Will closed his eyes and silently petitioned God. '_You better take care of us, Lord. If you don't, you're gonna have Jack on your hands. Trust me, he's a bit much… even for You.' _

            _'Any minute, now. Any minute someone's gonna step out of that room and that'll be it. Game over. If they **do** take us alive…well, we'd be better off dead.' _Will's mind raced as they crept closer and closer to the light. Ten more yards. Seven. Five. Still, they were in the clear. Three…Two…One…SAFE!!

            Will made it to the other side of the door but no further. He looked back and found Jack peering into the room. "JACK!" he hissed.

            "There's rum in there," he murmured. 

            "JACK!" Will was pleading, now.

            "Right, right. I'm com-" He gasped. "My effects!" He turned to Will. "They have our things in there. Swords, pistols…my hat!"

            "No, Jack! No! Let it be, we're almost out!"

            "I want my hat." His voice was stronger than it had been in days. There was something to be said for determination and the love of a good hat. "I can't do it all by me onesies."

            "You really _are_ daft, aren't you?"

            Will stared into those deep, chocolate brown eyes and found nothing but utter resolve. They took his pride, they took his health, but they were NOT about to take his hat! If he went in alone, he'd be killed.

            Will looked into the room. Four men, all shit-faced drunk, sitting in one corner. The hat and weapons were on a table in the other corner, no more than ten feet away. It was doable – for Will, at least. "Fine. But you stay in doorway. _I'll _get your precious hat. I don't need you collapsing in front of four drunken enemies."

            "Agreed!"

            Will slithered along the wall, never taking his eyes off the men in the corner. These might have been the worst pirates he'd ever seen. _'What is it was pirates and alcohol?' _

            He was at the table, now, and still hadn't been noticed. Slowly, he put Jack's hat on his head and checked the pistols. Both loaded. _'They can burn the flesh off Jack's chest and beat me into oblivion, but they're stupid enough to leave the guns loaded. They truly **are **the worst pirates I've ever seen.'_

Then he heard the click. It was unmistakable: a pistol being cocked. Four pistols being cocked, to be precise. " 'ey! Yer that kid we took wiv Sparrow! What ye doin' up 'ere?"

            "Um…Leaving?' Without waiting for a response, Will fired both shots, taking out half his opponents. One just watched in a drunken stupor as his comrades hit the ground. The other took a shot at Will, but only managed to graze his arm. In a split second, Will had both swords pointed at their chests.

            "Like I said, I'm leaving. Without the two of you." With that, he knocked them over the heads with the flats of the swords, letting them slide harmlessly to the ground.

            _'What a sight I must be,'_ he thought as he looked down at his bleeding arm. _'Here I am, holding two swords, wearing nothing but boots, trousers, and a pirate hat, completely bruised and now bloody, too. Thank God __Elizabeth__ can't see me now!' _For the first time in days, he was relaxed. They were free. Nothing was standing in there way.

            He turned back to grin at Jack and share his joy. But what he saw wiped that silly smile right off his face.

            "Lovely job. Very impressive. Shame it was all in vain."

            Jack was still standing right inside the doorframe, just like Will had instructed him to. Except now, Captain Richard Lange was with him, holding a very sharp sword to his throat.

**Wow, that was pretty long for me! Pathetic, but true. I'm really sorry it took so long to get this little chapter up, but I hope it was worth the wait. Or at least not a complete disappointment. Thanks to all the people who have dedicatedly been reviewing this story and please keep it up!!!  I'd like to promise I'd update this soon, but that seems to jinx me. I'll try my best, though.**

**Oh, I stole one line in here from a Johnny Depp movie (besides 'Pirates'). If anyone can point it out, I'll give you a 4 day-old kitten!**


	14. Death Becomes You

**_Author's Note: _Almost over! One or two more chapters after this one, I think. It's ****2:00 am****, so I apologize for any typos. I hope you all like it! Personal thanks are included at the end.**

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**CHAPTER 14 – Death Becomes You**

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            "I swear, whelp, this is not my fault."

            Will opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out.

            "What's the matter, boy? Cat got your tongue? I certainly hope not. I had planned to take that for myself."

            Will quickly shut his mouth and clenched his jaw, instinctively protecting his exposed tongue. "You sick bastard!"

            "Now, now, there's no need to drag my dear mother into this. I assure you, I am quite legitimate. I have been feeling a bit ill lately, however. Nothing too serious I'm sure. But we're getting slightly off topic. Where was I, now?"

            "I believe you were just about to remove this exquisite blade of yours from my neck," Jack answered hopefully.

            "Ah, quite right!" Lange shoved Jack roughly into the corner. He toppled onto the heap of bodies that had once been Lange's crew and lay still. From this angle, Will wasn't even certain he was breathing.

            "Now, lad, where exactly did you think you were off to?"

            "Anywhere you aren't," Will spat back, his anger flaring up against Lange as he watched Jack's motionless form.

            "But we've only just begun! It'd be rude to leave now."

            "You'll have to forgive me if my manners aren't up to par," Will sneered. "It's been a rough week."

            "I'm sure it has. Withholding information can be quite strenuous."

            "I wouldn't know. I've never had any information worth withholding – including the location of your bloody diamond!"

            Lange rolled his eyes and waved the sword in Will's direction. "So I keep hearing. You certainly know how to stick to a story, I'll give ya that."

            "That's rather easy to do when you're telling the truth."

            "Is it? I'm afraid I'm a bit naïve in that area. I don't make a habit of telling the truth."

            "Obviously."

            "But you…you seem like an honest lad. A blacksmith, didn't you say? Hardworking, I'd bet. Probably got a pretty young lass at home waiting for you."

            Will snarled. He didn't like this game. His reaction didn't go unnoticed by Lange.

            "Ah, you do have a girl." Lange crossed his arms and examined Will. "What will she say when you walk in looking like that? What a mess you are! Just think how upset she'll be! Do you really want to upset the poor lass?"

            "**_I_**didn't do this to me. **_You _**did, remember?"

            "So I did, so I did. But only because you weren't being cooperative." Lange took a step towards Will and looked into his eyes. His voice was kind, remorseful even. "I don't _want _to hurt you, son. We both know you're an innocent in all this. Wrong place, wrong time, right? Hell, you said you've only known Sparrow a year! I know you didn't take Crystallis – **_He_** did. That bastard pirate. He's no friend of yours, mate. You're better than that. You're only hurting yourself by protecting him. Yourself and your lass. She wouldn't want you dying for a bloody thief like him."

            Out of the corner of his eye, Will watched Jack slowly reach for something. '_What was he doing? Had Lange seen it? Keep him talking, keep him distracted.' _ "I wasn't planning on dying."

            Lange sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I really think you're missing the point here."

-------------------------

            Jack grinded his teeth to keep from screaming as his fragile body was thrown to the floor. He squeezed his eyes shut and commanded himself to keep on breathing. Everything was getting hazy and he could feel himself drifting into darkness.

The whole world seemed to be changing. He was surrounded by a thick, dense fog. The pain was slowly ebbing away and everything was peaceful. _'NO!'_ his mind screamed. _'Don't go there! If you go there, you won't come back. Ever.' _

But his body seemed to disagree. _'Does that matter? Everything's better there. Why should I go back at all?'_

_'Listen!'_ his minded argued back. _'Listen to Will! He needs you! He hasn't given up on you, don't give up on him!' _Two voices cut through the fog. They were faint, but he knew one was Will.

"**_I_**didn't do this to me. **_You _**did, remember?"

"So I did, so I did. But only because you weren't being cooperative."

_'Do something, you bloody git! DO SOMETHING!!' _

His brain finally got through to the rest of him. Slowly, his eyes opened and fell on the dead pirate in front of him. Blood was pouring steadily out of a hole in his chest, effectively put there by Will. In his hand at his side was a pistol. _'Did he fire?'_ Jack stared at the pistol and desperately tried to remember the brief encounter. _'Two shots. BAM BAM. Both Will. This gun's still loaded… GRAB IT!' _

He inched his arm forward, careful not to draw attention to himself. _'Almost there, almost there!' _He was just centimeters for the handle, now, but he couldn't reach any further.

Lange was still talking. "You're only hurting yourself by protecting him." Apparently he hadn't been noticed yet.

Jack grimaced as he slid his body forward just the slightest bit, scraping his bandaged chest against the unconscious pirate beneath him. But he had it!

-------------------------

"I really think you're missing the point here. There's no reason for you to suffer! You can walk free! Hell, laddie, we'll even give ya a ride home! What d'ya say? Whose it gonna be? Him or you?"

 "How 'bout you, Lange?" The gunshot was deafening as it echoed throughout the small room. The expression on Lange's face was one of pure shock. His sword clattered to the ground. Blood seeped through his calloused fingers as they grasped at the hole in his stomach. He looked from his bloody hands to Jack, lying on his side, still aiming the empty pistol. "You…you…" Captain Richard Lange fell to his knees, his life flowing out of him.

Will was the first to snap back to reality. "C'mon!" He grabbed Jack by the arm and yanked him to his feet, heedless of the pirate's many injuries. "Someone will have heard that, we have to go, now!"

Jack pulled his arm away. "He ain't dead yet! I'm not leaving till he's dead."

"He will be, Jack, let's go!"

"NO!" Will was stunned. He'd never seen Jack like this. Jack was fun, sweet, crazy, even, but not murderous. _'Elizabeth had said he'd gotten a little weird when she burned all the rum, but that was…WAIT!' _

"I have an idea!"  Will darted around the room, pouring out all the bottles of rum on and around Lange's dying body. For a second, Jack looked like he was about to protest the destruction of the rum, but caught on quick enough. He grabbed the bottles near him and emptied the contents onto the bleeding pirate, even if he did whimper a bit in the process.

"Don't worry, mate. You'll probably bleed to death before you feel the heat. A pity, really."

Will grabbed Jack and pulled him out the door, knocking a torch off the wall on his way out. He half-dragged Jack around the corner and, just as they had predicted, there was the exit.

Will ran as fast as he could, pulling Jack along with him, ignoring the pirate's stumbling. _'Keep moving. Just keep moving.'_ Out the door, down the steps, down the hill, through the trees. _'Don't stop, run, run!' _Through the town, past the pubs, past the whores, to the docks. The docks!

"Ship!" Jack panted. "Com…coman…oh, just get a…bloody boat!" It was late at night, very late, and the docks were nearly deserted. Nearly. Will found a small fishing trawler he could handle, but they would still need a distraction in order to take it. Lucky for them, they had already made one.

"Bloody 'ell! Look at those flames!!" The few sailors who had been loitering on the dock ran into the town to get a better look at the mysterious fire that was illuminating the hill. _Now_ the docks were empty!

"Quick!" Will helped Jack into the boat, untied it, jumped in himself, and set sail. They were free at last.

Jack dropped to the floor and lay on his back, staring up at the stars. "You steer, whelp. I'll navigate."

"Where are we going?"

"Tortuga."

**_A/N: _Well, that's it for Captain Richard Lange! Or is it… I know you all wanted him to have an appropriate death after what he did to Jack and Will, so I hope you're all satisfied. (And not grossed out or anything!) The next chapter will probably be pretty short, so I should have it out soon. See ya there!**

**THANKS**

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First things first: The Quote. _"You better take care of us, Lord. If you don't, you're gonna have Jack on your hands. Trust me, he's a bit much… even for You."_ I stole that from "**Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas**". The original quote is: _"You better take care of me Lord, if you don't you're gonna have me on your hands." _ I know it's not one of his more mainstream movies, so I'm not surprised not many people got it.

**OpraNoodlemantra: **Love that name! Very 'Deppish'. Congratulations! You win a furry little ball of fluff! I was kinda surprised to see someone get the quote so quickly, but turns out you're one of the only ones who did! That is a great movie, ain't it?

**Blue Autumn Sky: **Yep, he is a bloody idiot. But that's why we love him. I didn't even think about Mort Rainey, but that's a good connection. I'm definitely gonna have to check out your story now!

**Jeshika-chan: **Wow! How flattering! Thank you! I know, Cliffies suck and I hate them, too. I'm just that mean. Sorry!

**pendragginink: **Funny, but you _did_ point out the Johnny line. Just didn't know it. I couldn't give away those kittens even if I wanted to (which I don't, 'cause they're so fluffy and cute!). I'd get seriously bit by their very protective mother. I'm glad you liked Jack accepting Will's help, because I wasn't sure about including that part. And thank you for reviewing this story so faithfully.

**Padfoot n' Moony: **I promise they'll get home safe and sound. I'm all tortured out. I was starting to depress myself.

**ellennar: **That's my favorite line, too. Too bad I ripped it from Hunter S. Thompson. Wish I'd come up with it. What can I say? It _is_ a pretty cool hat. And thanks for all your reviews!

**Alori Kesi Aldercy: **Thanks for taking the time to read all this crap! I never review till the end either.

**Merry-2004: **Yay for reviews! Thanks for the compliment!

**Ila: **Yeah, Cliffhangers suck. I'm evil like that. Sorry! I often wish I could slap Jack, too.

**Gaze: **My longest chapter yet! I wish I could write longer ones but my mind drifts and they start to really suck if they get too long. It cracked me up that so many people mentioned the quote without knowing it was the one I was talking about. But I've done that, too. Hehe, I'd like to see the hat be the death of him in a fic. Not this one, though.

**wildthing370:** TIM-MAY!! You know you rock! Thanks for the review (even if I did have to beat it out of ya!) Let's get together and do Slurpees! Chao, babe!

**Enelya Took: **Thanks a bunch for all the reviews and compliments! They are very much appreciated!

**Pippin-n-legolas: **That was a pretty good guess on the quote. I could see that being in a movie. Maybe it was… You never know. Thanks for the compliment! And, yes, Jack-angst rocks!

**JackFan2:** You feel that bad for Jack and Will? Mission Accomplished!! I'm glad to see I have them in character, 'cause I'm never really sure of myself. Thanks for all the compliments and for being such a faithful reviewer!

**KrazyKid197:** Ya know, that _does_ sound an awful lot like a OUATIM quote! I hadn't thought of that when I wrote it. Thanks for the review, though!

**JessieRose:** I'm glad you loved that line and the way I used it. Just wish I had written it. Oh, well. Thank Hunter S. Thompson for that one! But since you're such a faithful reviewer, take a kitten anyway!

**Heldin: **Yay! Second person to get the quote right! Congratulations! And you even quoted the original, nice touch! Thanks for taking the time to review!

**Beanie2552: **Wow! Wasn't expecting a review from you! You're right on one account. Chapter 11 was very forced, but 12 was actually pretty easy 'cause I had a deadline. Work better under pressure, I guess. You know better than anyone that I can't write without being in the evil place. I get my best ideas when I'm supposed to be concentrating on other things. Have your people call my people and we'll do lunch. Burger King?

**Atticus Crisps: **Thank you so much! That has to be the best review I've ever received. I'm never sure about my writing, so your review was a great confidence builder. And I checked your profile to see if you had any stories I could read and saw that you recommended mine! That was really flattering! Again, thank you so very much!!

**And Thanks to everyone who's reviewed my other chapters. I'd like to thank you all personally, but that's a lot of reviews to sift through and I'd rather be writing. Please keep it up!!**


	15. Free At Last

**_Author's Note:_ I'm sorry!! I have no excuse for taking so long on this chapter. Sheer procrastination. I didn't even realize it had been that long until last week! Please don't hurt me! Gotta warn ya, this is longer than usual, but nothing much happens. Kind of a filler chapter. Hope you like it anyway! Please read and review!!!**

**On a much more depressing note, evil school has started once again. Usually this is good (for my story) because I have lots of time to write, but I heard Junior year is the hardest in high school and it doesn't help that I'm taking all the hardest classes, so I might not have much time to write. Oh well, knowing me, I'll blow it off for fanfiction anyway!**

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**CHAPTER 15 - Free At Last**

Will leaned against the side of the boat, staring off into the night. According to Jack, they were heading in the right direction and should reach Tortuga by nightfall tomorrow. How he knew where they were going was beyond Will. He had said something about the stars. _'Well, when it comes to the sea, Jack knows best. Pirate blood or not, I think I'll stick to land and leave the water up to him.'_

Jack opened his eyes just enough to see the sky. There was a full moon out tonight and it cast a pale light on the small boat, illuminating Will. He glanced at the young blacksmith and studied him for a moment. He looked good. Too good. Something was different, something was off…AHA!

"Ya know, whelp, I know how much you idolize me and want to be like me and all. And, really, who can blame you? But you're gonna have to give the hat back. Only the captain gets to wear the hat."

Will moved to return the hat to Jack, having recently gotten a very clear idea of much it meant to him, when he stopped. "Well, actually…I **am** captain of this ship!"

Jack sighed dramatically. "Let's rephrase that, shall we? Only Captain **Jack Sparrow** gets to wear **that** hat. And besides, this is a _boat._To get a hat I said you needed to captain a _ship._ Pay attention next time."

With a smirk, Will tossed the hat to Jack, landing it right next to his head. There was no winning with that pirate. If he didn't cheat, he'd get you on a technicality.

Jack set the treasured hat over his face and anyone who didn't know him would've thought he'd fallen asleep. But Will knew better. He knew Jack would never trust him to steer a raft by himself in the light of day much less sail a small boat in the middle of the night. It didn't matter how good he got, he would never be the sailor his father was and that made him forever inadequate. More than once he'd heard, "_Stick to the forge, whelp. Pirating does not seem to be your calling."_

Not that that concerned him too much. _'Never really liked boats anyway. Most of the ones I get on seem to blow up somehow. Land is definitely much safer.' _

Since Jack's sleeping act was fooling nobody, Will decided it was time to break the silence with a question that had been burning in the back of his mind all night. "So why Tortuga?"

"Why not?" came the muffled response from beneath the hat.

"Why not? Well, personally, I'm not a big fan of Tortuga. It wouldn't exactly be _my_ first choice for a vacation spot."

Jack sighed, something he felt they'd both been doing _far_ too often lately, and moved the hat under his head to use as a pillow so he could be sure Will could see him rolling his eyes. "We are going to Tortuga, mate, because that's where the _Pearl_ is. See, it's imperative that I get the _Pearl_ back because it's been my experience that I don't appear to be a very fearsome pirate sailing into ports in a glorified rowboat. _The Black Pearl_ adds something of a dramatic effect to the whole scene. Very important in my line of work."

"You really think the _Pearl_ will still be there? Certainly the crew would've taken it out to look for us, by now!" Will said, choosing (as usual) to ignore Jack's obvious sarcasm.

"_By now?_ You'd know better than me, William, how long have we been gone?"

"…a week? Maybe two? No more than that."

"Two weeks, at the most. Tortuga's a wonderful town, Will. Plenty of places a man can go to lose track of time. And even if someone notices we've been absent a little too long, chances are they're having too much fun to jeopardize their extended vacation. With the possible exception of Anamaria," he added. "She always seemed to share your views on Tortuga for some reason."

"You honestly think your crew would rather waste away in some dirty pub than save their captain?!"

"Save me from what?!" Jack was starting to get exasperated. Would the whelp _ever_ learn? "As far as they know, I'm just as drunk as they are in another dirty pub. They have no reason to think I've been _kidnapped_!" Will stared at his boots, slightly embarrassed. He would never understand pirates!

Jack rolled his eyes again, starting to feel a little sorry for lashing out like that. Good, respectable blacksmiths can't comprehend the overpowering allure of a place like Tortuga that intoxicates not-so-respectable pirates. "Look," Jack said a little more gently, "isn't it better if they're docked right where we left them? I mean, if they went looking for us, they could be anywhere. It could take months to track them down. Do you wanna spend _months_ in this bloody little thing?"

Will couldn't argue with that. If Jack was right, as he usually seemed to be, then he'd be sleeping safe and sound on board the infamous _Black Pearl_ this time to tomorrow and be home wrapped up in Elizabeth's arms before he knew it.

On second thought, Thank God for drunken pirates!

* * *

The time past slowly – mostly in silence - but no one was complaining. Just to be out on the open water with the wind blowing the fresh sea air through their hair and the sun warming their battered bodies seemed like heaven after being in that windowless, reeking cell for one agonizingly long week.

Will followed Jack's occasional directions and prayed they were accurate. God only knew where they were – well…God and Jack, apparently. All Will could see was water, but Jack remained confident. He hauled himself to the edge of the boat and pointed toward the setting sun.

"See that island on the horizon?"

Will squinted into the fading light but couldn't see anything that looked even remotely like land. "…yeah, I see it."

"Thank God you steer better than you lie or we'd probably be halfway to Africa by now.

"But trust me, it's there. Tortuga – happiest place on Earth! Well, maybe not for respectable eunuchs such as yourself, but for the rest of us there's no where better!"

* * *

Will eased the little trawler into the port and stepped out onto the dock. _'Well, at least some things don't change."_ Things certainly hadn't. Tortuga was still swarming with drunkards tripping over there own feet and vomiting in the alleys or passed out in the streets. Glass was breaking, pirates were fighting, and whores were working. _'Ah, Tortuga…A pirates life for me,' _Will thought sarcastically.

He turned back to Jack, who was somehow managing to crawl out of the boat, and bent down to help him, but Jack waved him off. When he finally got his butt firmly planted on the dock, he stopped to rest. "I seem to recall getting out of these little things was much easier last time," he muttered to himself."

"Well, that's probably because it was sinking."

If looks could kill, Will would've been floating face down in the water. "Who told you about that?!"

Will, leaning coolly against a pole, arms crossed over his bare chest, glanced down at Jack nonchalantly. "The Great Captain Jack Sparrow is hardly immune to gossip – and not only the stories _you _want people to hear."

Still scowling at Will, Jack pulled himself to his feet. "Time to go, I think. The sooner we get you back to your smithy, the less chance there is of me hurting you. Now, lead the way."

"Lead where?"

"The nearest pub. Where else?"

* * *

Will leaned his head against the wall and tried to block out the nearly unbearable noise of the pub he had lead them to. They were sitting in a corner, sipping rum, and keeping an eye out for one of Jack's crew members. It had been nearly an hour and so far no one had appeared. Will was still working on his first and only rum. Jack was on his fourth, which Will suspected was quite conservative of the rum-loving pirate.

Jack closed his eyes and rested his head on his left hand. His right arm was still out-of-comission, something he was brutally reminded of everytime he tried to move it. In spite of the ever-loudening ruckus, he was very nearly asleep when he was jolted awake by a familiar voice.

"Cap'n! There ye are!" Joshamee Gibbs worked his way through the crowd and plopped himself down at their table. "We've been wonderin' where the two of ye ran off to. 'aven't seen ye since we docked!" His smile faded as he finally took in the appearances of the two bruised, beaten, exhausted, and half-naked men in front of him. Will's head was still resting against the wall, his mouth hanging slightly open, and Jack was holding his head in one hand, the other other hanging limply at his side instead of wrapped possesivly around a pint as it should have been. "My God! What the bloody 'ell 'appened to ye?" He asked in horror, motioning to Jack's bandaged chest.

Neither had moved an inch since Gibbs sat down and they both just continued to stare blankly at him. "…Cap'n?" No answer. "Mr. Turner?" Will moaned a little, but nothing verbal came out. It was finally over, but they were too tired to care.

Gibbs looked around, hoping to see someone hurrying to his rescue. No such luck. He jumped a little at Will's weary voice. "Just take us back to the _Pearl_, Mr. Gibbs."

* * *

Will woke up on a makeshift bed in Jack's cabin, not really recalling how he'd gotten there. It was the exact same spot he'd been sleeping in just over a week ago when the whole horrible thing had started.

Jack stared at the ceiling. He was finally on his own ship, in his own cabin, in his own bed. He should have fallen asleep as quick as Will had, if not quicker, safe and sound at last. But he hadn't. _'Because I'm not safe and sound. Not yet.'_

Will sat up, bleary-eyed. He could tell Jack was wide awake, even though he was still lying in bed, his left arm under his head. "Are we still in Tortuga?"

"No. Gibbs got us on the _Pearl_ then went back out to round up the crew. We left as soon as enough of them had sobered up a bit. That was about an hour ago, I think."

Will sighed, happily for once, and layed back down, finally relaxed. "Home at last."

"Not quite."

Will shot back up. "What?! Home, Jack! We need to go home! Now!"

"I am home, actually."

"Well, I'm not! And, besides, you need a doctor! We need to go to Port Royal, Jack!"

"I know that," Will had never heard anyone's voice so laden with pain and exhaustion. "But there's someone on this ship I can't trust. We're not going anywhere until I find out who betrayed me."

* * *

**_A/N: _Whoo! That was my longest chapter yet! Too bad nothing really happened. Hope it was somewhat enjoyable, though. It's really late, so please let me know if you find any typos so I can fix 'em. AND REVIEW!!!!! **

**Well, next chapter, we find out who the betrayer is. I've been kind of afraid to expose him/her 'cause I have a bad feeling it's not gonna go over well. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.**

**This stupid site seems to have deleted 3 of my reviews for some reason, so if I didn't thank you, I'm really sorry, but blame the spontaneous deleters at this site.  
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**THANKS**

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**OpraNoodlemantra: **Heehee! Yeah, Lange's a stupid buttplug! Is he dead? Well, I have my own ideas on that, but I think I'll let that be the reader's prerogative, at least for now. That F&LILV quote has got to be my favorite one in the whole movie, even more so than the one I used in the last chapter! Thanks for the review!

**No 1 u wanna no: **What a cool pen name you have! No, there's not gonna be any Jack/Will in this story. I thought about it, but it just isn't the direction I decided to take. Sorry! Maybe next time. Glad you like this story and I certainly hope you continue to read it anyway.

**JackFan2:** Always glad to here from you! I was very relieved to hear you loved the Jack POV section because I went back and forth on whether or not to leave that in. Is Lange dead? Well, like you said, there's always that little speck of doubt… I certainly hope this is meeting your expectations and continues to do so. Thanks for reviewing!

**Merry-2004:** Glad to hear from you again! Thanks for the compliments. Hope you're still enjoying this.

**Atticus Crisps: **You're compliments are truly appreciated! As any writer knows, I feed off reviews like yours. They're what keeps me writing. I'm very happy to hear you liked the Jack POV section because I wasn't sure how that would go over. I hope this is still meeting your expectations.

**JessieRose:** I'm very happy to hear you liked their escape and the way I portrayed them. I'm never sure how out-of-character they are sometimes. Part of me is sad to see this end, too. I'm considering a sequel, but…I don't know. We'll see how people react to the ending since that is, after all, the most important part.

**Alori Kesi Aldercy: **Sorry I grossed you out! I seem to have a habit of doing that. But after what that piece of crap did to poor Jack, I figured it was the only way for him to go. Thanks for the review!

**Padfoot n' Moony: **Thank God I didn't gross you out! I was really worried how people would react to that, since burning people alive is pretty horrible. But I thought it was the only thing suitable after what he did to Jack.

**Jeshika-chan: **Yayness! Thanks for the review! I hope I managed to update quick enough for you. I know what it's like to wait forever for an update; very annoying.

**Hell On Hooves:** First of all, awesome pen name! Barbossa did take the diamond, but is it on Isla de Muerta? Hm…only time will tell. Thanks for taking the time to review my little story!

**YRP-is-so-kool: **Well, I'm very honored to be the first PotC story you've read! Thanks for the great review!

**ellennar: **Thanks for still sticking with this story. I always thought of Lange as a rather flammable person, but maybe that's just me. Maybe Jack is still intent on getting in his vacation. I mean, imagine how stressful burning the rum would be for him!! Traumatizing! He might've thought that was the worst thing I did to him!

**Enelya Took:** Glad you liked how I whacked the bastard. And he is a bastard, even if he doesn't agree. Thanks for still reviewing!

**Wildthing370: **You're back, you wild thing, you! Well of course you're back; I sat you down at my computer and made you review! But still, it was a nice gesture. Ok, we've done Slurpees. Next time let's get together and do…BONO!!! Well, _I'll_ do Bono, you can entertain yourself, kay? Hasta luego, mi hombre!

**Mich**Yep, "Fear and Loathing…" is an awesome movie! Thanks for reading my story!

**Narcissa-Malfoy-22:** Thanks for taking the time to review and for saying this is one of the best! Very flattering! Sorry about the torture parts, I know they're a little hard-core.

**Pippin-n-legolas: **I'm glad you liked the part from Jack's POV since I wasn't too sure about including it. Hope this chapter wasn't too disappointing. Thanks for the review!

**ashlyns: **Hey there! Thanks for taking the time to read mine. Glad you liked Jack going back for the hat. I thought it sounded…Jack-ish. Is Lange dead? Well, I have my own ideas, but I think I'll let it be the reader's prerogative, at least for now. Yeah, I thought Will deserved to kick some butt for a change. Hope this chapter wasn't a disappointment. Now quit reading my stupid story and go update yours!!!!

**Beanie2552:** Callin' me cheap! How dare – oh, wait! I _am _cheap! Of course I didn't expect to hear from you 'cause I threaten you with violence every day and it never works! I knew you'd like Will having a bigger role in this. And you know why he did? My Orlando posters!!! And wallpapers, course. Yes, they are very inspiring. I don't wanna include everyone, just the hot guys! But it looks like, by popular demand, I'm gonna have to include the women soon. Now review again or I'll kick your ass all the way into Senior year!!

**Celebrean:** I _am_ honored that you chose to read this story first! Very honored! Glad you enjoyed the fic and thanks for taking the time to review it. Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. And welcome to the Pirates world!


	16. Kidnap Me Once

**_Author's Note: _Insert apology for long delay here. Hope y'all like this chapter. Personally, I was disappointed with it, but hopefully that's just me. Longest one yet, but that doesn't necessarily make it good. We're almost done here. I'm thinking…one more chapter, probably a short one, then an epilogue. **

**I wanna get some quick, special thanks outta the way, here: Thanks to my friends Kara (ellamist) for proofreading this, Tim (wildthing370) for giving me the whole idea for this chapter, and Lisa (my freaky little Asian friend) for coming up with the word "Crystallis". Oh and Mr. Hughes, my 10th grade Bio teacher for having such a ridiculously boring and easy class, giving me lots and lots of time to write and play games on my calculator. **

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**CHAPTER 16 – Kidnap Me Once, Shame On You. Kidnap Me Twice, Shame On Me**

Jack hadn't bothered to take his pants or boots off the night before. He had collapsed on the bed, fully intent on getting a good night's sleep – the first he would have had in a _long_ time. But just as he'd started to drift off, Lange's words flooded his semi-conscious mind. __

_ "Don't be naïve, laddie. Everyone has a price. Even a member of your valiant crew."_

**That** had certainly jolted him back to reality. Someone had betrayed him. Some underhanded, conniving, rebellious, greedy bastard had sold him out.

He glanced at Will, passed out in the corner of his cabin. _'Well, if someone comes in here lookin' to finish the job, I don't think he'll be much help – at least not in his current state.'_ After that, he found sleep utterly impossible. Every time he closed his eyes he heard footsteps on the creaking deck stop outside his cabin door. Every time his imagination took over and he was certain it was the traitor coming to do him in. And every time it was just some presumably innocent member of the crew pacing the deck. But by then his heavy eyelids had already flown open again and sleep eluded him for yet another hour.

By the time the sun started filtering in through the cracks in his cabin door, Jack had yet to fall asleep. He was as wide awake as he'd ever been. Will was beginning to stir in the corner. That was Jack's cue. Sleep or no sleep, it was time to face the day – and his betrayer.

---------------------------------

To keep his restless mind occupied through the seemingly endless night, Jack had started to plot ways to unveil the heartless swine. Each plan had been more complex and less realistic than the last.

In the early hours of the night, when his exhaustion had yet to take a major toll on his rationalizing abilities, he thought of simple things. Have a nice, leisurely chat with each individual crew member, slipping in little comments about Lange and his Crytallis, and use his sharp judge of character to determine the guilty party.

Toward the middle of the night, his thoughts were running wild, completely out of his control. '_It was a crew-wide conspiracy!'_ He decided. _'They must all be stopped! I'll have another mutiny on my hands by dawn!' _He started getting uncharacteristically nasty, deciding to torture each crew member as he had been tortured until someone cracked and spilled their guts about the whole wretched affair. _'Get them before they get me!'_

But no. The sudden adrenaline rush faded and he gained back at least some control over his sleep-deprived mind. Torture was obviously a bad idea, very bad. In his heart of hearts, he knew his crew was loyal; more so than was typical for a pirate ship. All but the one bad seed. _'Don't be a fool, you stupid pirate. Torture is **not** your forte. Leave that to the bad guys. Besides, I think we've all had just about enough angst for one week.'_

Plan after countless plan flashed across his brain that night, getting stupider and stupider every hour, until finally he'd settled on one. Ridiculous though it may be, it was the best he could come up with, and it was just dumb enough to work.

---------------------------------

After Will had woken up to the horrid news that they _weren't_ on their way home it took him a while to calm back down. But he knew Jack was right. Jack was always right. They couldn't just go sailing about with the enemy onboard. Something had to be done.

But what?

Lucky for dear William, the great Captain Jack had already taken care of that nasty little issue. He had every detail of his plan worked out and explained it in full to the world weary blacksmith.

"That's ludicrous!"

"Aye, but will ye do it?"

Will sighed and rolled his eyes. "Of course I'll bloody do it. I'm just saying it's ludicrous."

"A little thing like that never stopped me before."

"No, no, of course not! Heaven forbid a Jack Sparrow Plan be sane."

Crazy or not, the plan was set. Only two people aboard the ship knew about it, and only two people would until all was said and done. Jack trusted no one but Will. They were all guilty until proven innocent - even Ana, Gibbs, Marty, and Cotton. Not a soul on board was safe from Jack Sparrow's suspicions, save for himself and the whelp.

Jack gently pulled a clean white shirt over his bandaged chest. He strapped on his belt and secured his sword and reloaded pistol, ready at the first sign of trouble. As Will rummaged through a messy pile of clothes on the floor, looking for a decent shirt, Jack sat on the bed and waited, too afraid to venture onto the deck alone. There was no telling who might stab him in the back, quite literally.

When both men were fully dressed and armed, looking slightly less disheveled in their semi-clean outfits, Jack opened the cabin door. At first he hesitated to go further. With all those possible traitors out there, he might as well be walking into the lions' den. But he was still Captain Jack Sparrow and he had a show to put on.

With as much pride and swagger as he could muster, Jack made his way to the wheel of his ship, biting his tongue to fight back the pain coursing through him at the sudden movement. Will followed close behind, happy to be promoted from leverage to body guard and coconspirator.

Gibbs was steering the _Pearl_, gazing out at the sea, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He was only a little shocked to see his Captain standing there, looking expectantly at the wheel. He may have been half dead and in dire need of rest, but nothing can keep a captain from his ship for too long, especially Sparrow and _The Black Pearl_.

Gibbs quickly gave up control and stepped back, letting Jack have his rightful place. He looked on in confusion as Jack turned the wheel to the right, when Port Royal was slightly to the left. "Where exactly were ye plannin' on goin' Cap'n?"

"To that island town on the horizon."

Gibbs squinted in the sunlight and, sure enough, there was an island. They'd been there once before and he was sure he knew the name at one time, but it had slipped his mind long ago. "Why not Port Royal, Cap'n?"

"Because I want to go there," Jack pointed out across the ocean.

"But we just came from Tortuga! Ye want to stop already?!"

"Perhaps you've already forgotten, Mr. Gibbs, but William and I have yet to have any kind of '_vacation'_, and I certainly think we've earned one."

Gibbs was still stunned by his crazy captain's sudden decision, but he let it go and left the men alone at the wheel.

"So far, so good," Will muttered.

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Jack sat in the bar in silence, oddly calm and still. Thankfully, his entire crew had agreed to come to the same one and they all sat in a group just a few tables away. He watched them talk and joke and drink. Not many of them seemed to notice their captain's abnormal behavior, but that was no real surprise. They were pirates after all, and pirates are not known for being the sharpest tacks on the board – at least not the majority. Jack had always seemed to be an exception to that rule. And he was counting on that rare pirate brilliance overcoming the average pirate ignorance in order for this plan of his to be successful.

Will slid into the seat next to him and observed the raucous crew for a moment. Not one of them was paying the least bit of attention to anyone outside their little circle, with the possible exception of a handful of doxies. Even Anamaria - who, not at all interested in the promiscuous women, had been glancing back at Jack's table every so often looking more than a little concerned – was engaged in a heated argument with Marty and hadn't bothered with Jack for nearly a quarter hour.

Now was the time.

Jack sensed this, too. "I think I need a bit of fresh air, whelp," he said, just loud enough to be sure at least some of his crew heard him.

"I'll come with you. I could use some air myself."

A few of Jack's men, glanced at them as they left the bar, taking note of the departure but thinking nothing of it. If the Captain wanted to go somewhere else, let him. They all knew Jack and Will had been taken by some pirate and held for a week, but what was done to them in that horrible time remained a mystery.

---------------------------------

Jack and Will walked as quickly as their battered bodies would let them back to the harbor. There, they found a small forest of palm trees just up the hill. Just a few yards in, it was dense enough to cover them completely. They sat on the ground, leaning against a tree, and rested in silence.

No more than half an hour later, Will was just on the edge of sleep when Jack shook his leg.

"Long enough."

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Half the pirates in the filthy little bar jumped in shock when the door was thrown violently open. Will Turner practically fell into the room, panting desperately for oxygen. The whole room turned to him expectantly. _'At least it's not too hard to get their attention.'_

The fact that he had returned in a panic without Captain Sparrow did not escape most of the crew. They stared at Will in horror as he struggled to catch his breath, knowing whatever he had run so fast to tell them had to be horrible.

"It's them!" Will panted. "In the harbor…must've followed us…got Jack!"

The whole of the crew was out the door in a flash, shoving Will hard into the splintered wood in their hurry. Anamaria led the way, followed closely by Gibbs - who could actually move pretty fast when the occasion called for it. The rest of the crew trailed not too far behind them, with Marty, Cotton, and Will bringing up the rear some distance from the rest.

At first, Will was very suspicious of the two. He had very specific instructions to stay in the back to look out for anyone trying to slip away from the rescue mission. But it seemed logical enough that these two would be behind – Cotton was the oldest and Marty, by far, the shortest. Will ran up ahead of them, encouraging them to speed up. "Gotta save Jack! C'mon!" He knew he couldn't get too far behind the group's leaders or the plan would be lost.

He got to the coast just in time to see Anamaria and Gibbs boarding the _Pearl_, ready to sail after their Captain. _'Or escape…' _Either way, he couldn't let them set sail.

Will dug his heels into the sand not far from where he had left Jack. He crouched down low and squinted into the trees. "Wait!" he called to Ana and Gibbs. "I think I see something!" Everybody froze while Will slipped into the bushes. There, he found Jack, sprawled out on the ground, shirt ripped open and bandages torn. He appeared to be unconscious. He darted back into the clearing. "He's here! They must've left him!"

In less than a minute, the entire crew was gathered around Jack's body. They were all fighting to get closer to their captain, making quite a commotion and all talking at once. But Will listened to every word he could catch.

"Move yer ass!"

"Lemme see, lemme see!"

"Who the 'ell would do this te 'im?"

"Christ, lookit his chest!"

"This doesn't make any sense."

"Why would Lange just leave him here?"

Jack's eyes snapped open just as Will's head shot around to find the speaker. They both knew the small voice at once.

"Marty," Will asked softly. "How did you know the pirate's name was Lange?"

Marty's eyes widened in shock as he stared up into Will's ice cold gaze. "You…you told us."

"We never told nobody," Jack said, wriggling himself into a sitting position, obviously no worse off than he had been that morning, earning a collective gasp from the bewildered crew.

Marty stuttered incoherently for several seconds, blatant guilt plastered on his face. Jack sighed. "I can't believe it was the bloody midget." He offered his good arm to Will, who promptly yanked him to his feet.

Anamaria, clearly not understanding the significance of this discovery, pushed her way past Will and got right in Jack's face. "What is all this?! Were you kidnapped or not?!"

"Of course I was! Just not this time." There was a sharp slap as Ana's hand made lightning fast contact with her captain's cheek.

"You better have a damn good reason for this little stunt, you daft bastard!"

"That's **_Captain_** Daft Bastard."

Seeing that this would only lead to more slapping, Will stepped in. "Of course we had a reason – a very good one." Ana shifted her fierce gaze to him and, seeing he arm tense, ready to smack him at any moment, Will took a quick step back. "We staged Jack's kidnapping _this time_ to figure out who betrayed him _last time. _And it worked," he added, scowling at Marty, who shrunk back in fear of the much taller, stronger blacksmith.

"Well, whelp, time to go home."

Will ran after Jack, who was already on his way back to _The Black __Pearl_ "What about Marty?"

"I believe there's a nice little island on the way. Well, more of a glorified rock, really. I think Marty's earned himself a…extended vacation."

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**_A/N: _Well, there ya have it. We finally expose the traitor. Hopefully it wasn't who you'd expect. I feel like I should explain why on earth on chose Marty. 1) We know a lot about Gibbs and Anamaria, and chances are they wouldn't do it. But Marty has something like one line! He could be the most malicious little dwarf on the face of the planet for all we know! Probably not, but I think it's an interesting thought. 2) I thought up this story in American History last year and that class had some very immature people. For some reason people kept blurting out "It was the midget!" When I heard that, this whole storyline popped into my head. 3) I have a few different muses, but one of them is Agent Sands and he can be very nasty. He told me to blame it on the midget.**

**Oh, yeah, I should probably include some kind of disclaimer for this chapter. I think people are FAR too obsessed with political correctness, so if you're upset by the use of the words "midget" and "dwarf", I apologize, but get over it. And, frankly, I don't care which one he is, all I know is he's a short little dude. Do please don't yell at me!!**

**THANKS**

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**Paine-171229: **Glad you thought Lange had a suitable demise. Figured he had it coming, even if it was a bit extreme. Thanks for the review, and good luck with school (evil place!)

**InsanePirate624:** Thanks again for taking the time to read and review my work. I know full well how important reviews are to authors and their egos so I'd be happy to check out your fic. Always looking for a new one to get hooked on. Of course, I'm sure I'll have reviewed long before I update and you read this…Oh well!

**JessieRose:** REALLY glad you liked this chapter. Always great to get validation from my favorite authors. Hope you weren't too disappointed with this chapter and the betrayer.

**ellennar**Yay!! Glad you liked the boat scene. I don't know where it came from, but it was my favorite part. Hope you liked this chapter, too! Now gimmie more "Blood of Avalon"! I am _way_ too addicted to that story!

**OpraNoodlemantra:** The hat was my favorite part, too! Thanks so much for reviewing this again. Good luck with school. It sounds like I'm not the only one with a horrible year ahead of me. I had to drop one of my Honors classes 'cause of schedule conflicts and I STILL have an overloaded semester! Hope yours goes better than mine!

**Blue Autumn Sky:** Ok, you're review just cracked my up! Hope this chapter lived up to your expectations, at least somewhat. I'm _very_ nervous about this one. Thanks for leaving such a creative review!

**wildthing370: **Look everyone, it's TIM-MAY!! Jack will get a doctor/nurse, whatever I decide. Don't worry, don't worry. I know how much you love your Jack and want him to get better. :) Good plan on Bono and Edge. Sweet dreams for me! Now what shall we do? I KNOW!! Mr. Richie Sambora!!!!! Whoo Hoo!! Gimmie some of that hot Jersey lovin'! ….Sorry 'bout that, but there was a Bon Jovi concert on VH1 last night, so…yeah.

**Beanie2552:** Hell yeah, I'm gonna kick your ass!! Don't remember what for, but I'll do it anyway! Spelling problems or not, I find it ironic that _you'd_ be the one pointing them out to me. Hehe, sorry! Don't try to blow me up in Chemistry!! Yes, I'm afraid I'll have to include the females. I agree, it was so nice without them. Loved your rap music comparison. Damn that noise!! We will definitely do Lit Club! Even if there isn't a Lit Club meeting! (Actually, I think that's called "Slurpee") NO MORE FRENCH!!!!! GAH! Now you'll have to suffer through my Spanish!! Adios mi amiga!

**Rhapsodyblue15:** Thanks so much for reading my story! I'm so glad you found the right parts funny!

**Celebrean: **Yes, "Pirates" is a wonderful world to get sucked into. Five times in one week is quite an accomplishment! I should try to beat that record :) Sorry nothing exciting happened, but that was just the way it worked out. The action is pretty much done in this story, which is sad, but true. Hope you still like it though. I don't like Anamaria _all _that much either, but she's definitely the coolest crew member. Oh yeah, I'm gonna try and read some of your Harry Potter and LotR stories when I get a chance. I always try to read what my reviewers write. Thanks for reviewing!

**ellamist**Aw, Kara, you're too much! Thanks for the great review (and the proofreading). I make you proud!! Yayness!!!

**Pippin-n-legolas: **Thank God! I was very worried that the ending was already getting weak. I hope this chapter and the betrayer didn't disappoint either. Sorry, but it's not Cotton's parrot. Although, now that ya mention it, that would be a very interesting choice. I've actually been thinking about writing a parody of my own story (don't ask me why). If I do, I'll have to keep that ending in mind.

**ashlyns**Yay for the favorite line thingy!! Would Jack have lice? Hm…I'd guess, yes. Didn't think about that. Poor Will. Now I'll have to buy him some kind of special shampoo. And you don't suck at the comments! I really appreciated it! Generally speaking, I don't find them hard to do. All I do is write whatever little oddity or bit of randomness your line inspires. Speaking of your stuff, UPDATE!!!! For the love of Jack, UPDATE!!!! Oh yeah…thanks for the review!! :)

**KrazyKid197: **I know I already emailed you, but, again, thanks so much!

**JackFan2: **See, nothing to worry about! Ana is innocent! I never even considered blaming it on her – that would be too predictable. Although I suppose having her under the influence of a curse would be pretty dang interesting. But thank you for understanding that whatever happens happens because my muse wanted that way and, frankly, I have very little control over it. Hope you don't mind, but this isn't gonna be a Jack/Ana shipper. Sorry! Hope you still enjoy it, though.

**Ila** Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the review.


	17. Home Again

**_Author's Note: _**_Well, here it is: The final installment of "Wrong __Man.__ The first half is Chapter 17 and the second half is the Epilogue. Thank you all so much for sticking with me through this whole thing! My sincerest apologies for the ungodly delay. My only excuses are school and procrastination. _

**CHAPTER 17 – Home Again**

Jack stared straight ahead toward Port Royal, never once looking back at the tiny island they had just left – at the tiny man who had betrayed him. It was over now. Everything was in its place.

_'Well, everything but the whelp.'_

Yes, Will had been more than happy to help Jack get his man, but that mission had been completed. Not it was time to go home.

It had _better_ be time to go home!

Knowing the pirate wouldn't be in the best of moods having just left a mutinous crew member – and former friend – shrieking on rock in the middle of the Caribbean, Will approached him slowly from behind and cleared his throat.

Jack spun around and, in typical Jack-fashion, nearly smacked Will in the face. "Aye, William, we're going to Port Royal." Will opened his mouth only to be interrupted with the answer to his unasked question. "And yes, whelp, if your annoyingly caring woman demands it, I will see a doctor. Now please go pretend to do something useful."

Satisfied, Will left the captain alone, just like he wanted. When he was locked away in a rancid little cell, abused and terrified, all he could think of was making a daring escape, rescuing Jack, and getting back to his wife. But now that he was safe and sound and the first two goals had been successfully accomplished, the third was beginning to seem a bit daunting.

Elizabeth hadn't wanted him to go on this little 'trip'. Sure, she loved Jack and his adorably crazy antics as much as her husband did, but the thought of the two of them running loose together in Tortuga, completely unsupervised, was not a comforting thought.

Yet he had gone. Jack was right, he had been in desperate need of a vacation, so he left, despite Elizabeth's insistent protests. _'And look what **that** got you? Let this be a lesson to you, William Turner: ALWAYS listen to your wife.' _

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_The Black Pearl_ sailed into Port Royal mid-afternoon the next day. The crew dropped Jack and Will off in a small cove with orders to return for their captain in a week. Will predicted it would be at least that long before his wife would let their injured friend out of her sight.

The two made their way along the back roads to the governor's property, careful to avoid anyone in naval uniform. With any luck, they could get Jack through this visit Commodore-free.

It was normally no more than a ten minute stroll from the beach to the little cottage behind Governor Swann's house where Will and Elizabeth lived. But with Jack inching along with his broken rib, battered body, and bruised ego it took three times as long, Will practically dragging Jack along the road half the time.

When they finally made it to the Turner's back porch, they both collapsed, safe at last and more than ready to crawl into a warm bed. Not having the energy to get up and open his own door, Will stretched across the patio and tried to rap weakly on the wood, though it came out as more of a scratching.

Not thirty seconds later, the door flew open and smacked Jack, who had the sad misfortune to be lying behind it, square on the forehead.

"Bloody raccoons! I thought the groundskeeper said he'd--" Elizabeth gasped. She dropped the broom she had been holding - presumably to beat the raccoons away - and fell to her husband's side. She rolled him onto his back and set his head in her lap. "Will!! What in God's name happened to you?!"

Will opened his eyes and, finally seeing his beautiful wife again, smiled, truly smiled, for the first time since this whole nasty adventure had begun. "I'm not really sure anymore…Something about pirates…Ask Jack."

"Jack?" Will gestured to his right. "Jack!" Elizabeth had been so wrapped up in her husband who was, for all intensive purposes, just fine, that she hadn't even notice the now unconscious pirate lying just a few feet away. There was a loud _thump_ as Will's head slammed into the porch when Elizabeth stood up without warning to tend to Jack. Will rubbed the back of his head gingerly and sat up, studying his wife and friend.

"Is he unconscious?"

"I think so. Did you carry him here?"

"He wasn't unconscious before."

Elizabeth ran her hand over the pirate's sharp features and stopped at his forehead. She glanced at the cottage's door, then back to the fresh trickle of bright red blood standing out against the pale skin. "That, uh…that might've been my fault…"

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Jack slowly opened his eyes, and then squeezed them shut again against the fierce light. Somehow he had gone from sprawled across the whelp's porch to lying in a nice, warm bed, the covers tucked tight around his waist.

But curiosity got the better of him so cautiously, and against his better judgment, he squinted one eye. He could make out four people standing in the corner, whispering. One was obviously a young woman; another tall and thin with long, dark, wavy hair. _'Whelp and Whelp-ette.'_ The third was a larger man with a poofy white wig. _'Uh-oh…not exactly my biggest fan…' _The last was a mystery. He looked to be about middle age with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail.

Jack sighed and cleared his throat dramatically. All eyes turned to him. Will and Elizabeth were all grins, the mystery man smiled with pride, and Governor Swann grimaced slightly.

"You're awake!"

"Quite the observation, Ms. Turner." Jack eyed this new man warily. Elizabeth followed his gaze and chuckled.

"This is Dr. Sullivan, Jack. He's an old friend of the family."

The doctor, seeing that the pirate hadn't been swayed into trusting him, sighed with enough drama to rival his melodramatic patient. "My job is to save people, Captain Sparrow. Not hang them."

"Aye. That's _his_ job," Jack nodded toward the governor.

"My father won't do anything of the sort." Elizabeth shot the man a fierce, warning glare. "He knows that hanging a friend of his daughter's is not in his best interest."

Governor Swann shifted from foot to foot, obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation. "Yes, Mr. Sparrow – _Captain_ Sparrow – my daughter has asked for my assistance and I shall give it to her without hesitation. Even if it means protecting the likes of you."

"Well, you've certainly changed your tune, my dear Governor. Last we met, you were just jumpin' at the bit to see me swing…What'd she threaten ya with?"

Swann stiffened, but kept his composure. "I assure you, Sparrow, my daughter would never do such a thing. I simply wish to see her happy, and you _have_ saved her life in the past."

"Ah. Right. If you say so, governor."

Swann turned to speak with Dr. Sullivan, and Will bent down to Jack's ear. "No grandchildren."

Jack frowned. "Don't see what's so bad about that. He'd save a bundle on Christmas presents."

"Gee, why don't you point that out to him, maybe he'll change his mind and--"

"No, no, that's quite alright, William."

Dr. Sullivan turned back to the bed. "I trust you're feeling better, Captain." Jack stared blankly at the man for a second. Was he feeling better? He hadn't even thought about it. The doctor laughed at the stunned pirate. "I'll take that as a 'yes'."

Jack took a moment to examine himself. His right arm was in a sling, his chest had been cleaned and rewrapped, and his head was now bandaged as well. He understood the arm and the chest, but try as he might, he couldn't remember how he'd hurt his head, just as he couldn't remember how he came to be in this bed.

He ran a hand along the gauze and glanced up at the doctor in question. The man smiled mischievously. "I believe you have Miss Elizabeth to thank for that one."

Jack gave her the saddest, most pitiful, beaten-puppy look she'd ever seen. "You hit me on the head?"

"Well, I…I thought…"

"Why would you hit me on the head? What did I ever do to you? Besides rescue you from murderous, undead pirates, reunite you with your one true love, and save you from drowning…"

"I'm sorry, Jack! I thought you were a raccoon! I feel guilty enough already, I don't need you--"

"A raccoon?!"

Dr. Sullivan stepped between them. "I think that's just about enough excitement for one day. Captain Sparrow needs his rest."

"Aye, especially 'cause of this brutal head injury I've just received at the hand of the vigilant raccoon hunter."

Will pulled Elizabeth out of the room and slammed the door behind them before she could retaliate.

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**EPILOGUE**

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It had been nearly three months since Captain Jack Sparrow had left Port Royal. Elizabeth and the good Dr. Sullivan had insisted he stay a week longer than planned, having the whelp send the _Pearl_ away before Jack even had a chance to argue. He fought and complained to no end, but in all honesty, he was truly thankful. As long as he stayed with the Turners and did as he was told, they waited on him hand and foot, which was more than he could expect from even _his_ loyal crew.

When the two weeks were up, he was feeling drastically better. Although he still wore the sling and bandages and would always carry the scars on his chest, most of the pain was gone. His head had healed completely, much to Jack's dismay. It had been very entertaining to hold his forehead and moan dramatically while Elizabeth, having a major guilt trip, scurried around trying to make him more comfortable. But when Dr. Sullivan took off the gauze and announced Jack's head would be fine, the jig was up.

But now he was back on his beloved _Black Pearl_, the traitor was gone, and Will was safely back in his smithy. Everything was right with the world.

-------------------------------

It was a very boring day. There wasn't much wind and not a ship in sight. All morning he had been ordering his crew around, taking the opportunity to tidy up his ship. In the year that he'd had it back from Barbossa he'd barely had time to get it clean. He'd immediately wanted to wipe away all trace of the mutineer, but there'd never been time to do a good overhaul, until now.

While the crew worked on the deck in the hot sun, Jack stayed in his cabin, scrubbing at the floorboards in a last-ditch attempt to work the nasty 'undead pirate' smell out of the wood. He had just moved his bed away from the wall and was cleaning behind it when something caught his eye. There seemed to be a larger gap between two floorboards than between the rest. It was barely even noticeable, but it was definitely there.

Jack brushed some of the dust away from the crack and tried to peer in, but all he saw was black. He sat back up and studied the gap. There was just enough room for his fingers…

He tugged gently on it and heard the wood creak. It had moved. He took a deep breath and yanked the board up, tumbling onto his back as it came loose. Jack crawled back to the hole and, in the dim light of his cabin, made out a little package about half a foot under his floor.

He climbed onto his bed and sat, studying the thing. It was wrapped in a filthy cloth and fit perfectly in his palm. And, my God, was it heavy! For such a little thing, it certainly weighed enough!

Suddenly, it struck him what this discovery could be – must be. What else would Barbossa hide not only _in_ his own cabin, but _under_ it?

Holding his breath, Jack slowly unwrapped the cloth. Underneath the filthy rag was the most brilliant diamond he'd ever laid eyes on. And the biggest.

"Ah…So this must be the infamous Crystallis. I've heard so much about you." Jack chuckled to himself. "Ya know, part of me feels like I should go find my old friend Captain Lange and give this to him. Then again, there's not much he could spend it on now, is there?" The chuckle turned into a full-blown laugh. "You and me are gonna have some fun, Crystallis. I think we've earned it. Can't forget the whelp, though. I think I'll by him a nice hat. A big one!"

**_El Fin_**

**THANKS**

****

**ellamist**Aw, Kara, you're the best! I've always thought Gibbs was a little too stupid to mutiny. I would LOVE to go back to Mrs. C and be all "Eat this!!" But she always did like my writing. She'd just be surprised at WHAT I right. Forget this story, I should take her some of my porno pieces!! Better yet, SLASH!

**wildthing370: **Tim, have I told you lately you're a genius? Maybe not when it comes to el español, but you sure came through for me this time! Qué chico!

**Paine-171229: **5'4 better not me a midget, 'cause I'm only 5'4! Let's all mock midgets to make ourselves feel taller!! Yeah, Jack and Will…drools. I am beyond honored to you liked my story that much! Thank you so very much!

**OpraNoodlemantra**I always liked Marty, too, but something about him just struck me as **_evil_**. Maybe that's why I liked him. I'm very happy to hear you liked the plan, but even happier to hear you liked that line! I loved that line! School is of the devil. Ya know what I hate most about it? Every one telling me we're getting 'paid' because it'll help us succeed in the future. Yeah, well, if you can tell me how Pre Calculus is gonna make me money one day, I'd sure like to hear it. But your mom is very, very right. A sequel…perhaps. Nothing's in the works yet, but I've been trying to think of one.

**JackFan2:** Always glad to hear you loved my story! I'm sad to say that my boring Bio class was last year and now I got nothing but horrible Honors classes, so all my writing is done after midnight. I've never had someone get a kick outta my "Author's Notes" before, and I gotta say, it feels pretty good! I was VERY worried that people would jump down my throat for the whole midget fiasco, but I wasn't about to let that stop me. I have been considering a sequel, but I haven't got anything yet. I don't want it to be like every other story out there, and it's getting difficult to come up with original ideas. My muses seem to be on vacation.

**InsanePirate624: **Oooh, Elvish! Very impressive! I'm sorry this took so long to post. And I still plan on reading your story (it's on my Favorites list), but I've been so busy with evil, evil school that I haven't had time to catch up on the stories I've already started or even write my own. Hopefully now that this one's finished, I'll have some more time.

**ellennar**So glad you liked that line! Feel free to use it anytime. I can see that working very well in _Blood of Avalon_. Speaking of which…quit reading this and go write it! Oh and by the way, I love the picture in your profile.

**Rose Noire le Mort: **Always glad to see a new reader! Glad you found this funny. I tried to put in as much humor as I could to counteract all the angst. Sorry it's not a Jack/Ana shipper, but hopefully you still enjoyed it.

**JessieRose: **Glad you liked the plan! I'll be sure to tell my friend since he's actually the one who thought it up. I hoped Marty would take everyone by surprise, so that makes me happy! Thanks for being such a faithful reviewer.

**Blue Autumn Sky: **Your review cracked me up! Loved all the voices. As for Marty, I don't think anyone would've given him the opportunity to run for his life. He _is_ surrounded by lots of big, loyal pirates. Thanks so much for the review!

**Chem** Thanks for the review! So glad you liked the twist and the political incorrectness.

**nessi** Another new reader! Yay for me! And I am VERY honored to be your first POTC fic! Hope you're liking the fandom.

**Alori**** Kesi Aldercy: **Woot Woot! Your review made me laugh! Glad you liked the little twist. Hope this was a satisfactory ending for you.

**Carby**** luva 313: **What an interesting screenname! Here's your epilogue. Hope you liked it!

**Celebrean**I don't think I've reviewed your story yet, but I have started reading one, _Brotherhood, _I think. Glad you liked the twist. I would never have made it Ana for the simple fact that that's too easy. Have fun with your homework! Sounds nearly as nasty as mine… stomps off complaining about functions and chemical properties and economic growth…

**Red Stockings: **Glad you found the humor in this little story of mine. Without it, it would've been FAR too depressing to even write, much less read! I hope this chapter answered your questions on the diamond.

**Beanie2552: **Sorry dude, but it's after midnight and I'm falling asleep. I'll answer your review in person. If you don't like it, blow me up in Chemistry.

**Ila**Glad you liked my "Captain Daft Bastard" line. It was one of my personal favorites. Thanks for reviewing!!

**And thanks to anyone who I might've forgotten. I apologize, but it's after ****midnight**** and I can barely keep my eyes open. Hope you've all enjoyed my little story. **

**What do y'all think? Sequel or no sequel….? I think some stories are better left alone, but if enough people want it, I'll try to write a sequel. Let me know what you think.**

**And if you leave your email address, I'd be happy to respond to your review!**


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